BY BAG
CONFIDENTIAL
LEMN Morgan LIND
27
C.S. 41A
布政司署
香港下亞
畢道
*** Our Ref.:
CR 2/4821/75 II
* YOUur Ref.:
J A B Stewart. Esq OBE
Hong Kong Department F CO
I
EB 1977
HKIL 265/3324/1 Tor wither
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
9 February, 1977
I don't see what's in this
for us?
18/2
Euler
بل بقاء
Jabs
Mr 1572
,UN),
Dear John,
ти
Mr. Magan, MD Mined the
Very Shujing of HK. I hope VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: THE "BOAT" PEOPLE that it duerit funs nike
183 Re
to difficulties.
Derek Milton kindly sent with his letter of 8 Du
November copies of what was said at last year's session of the UNHCR's Executive Committee about the problem of Indo-Chinese refugees who had been picked up at sea by boats or who had arrived by boats in neighbouring countries.
2.
Since the UK spokesman has gone on record that the problem can be relieved only by the combined efforts of the international community so that the UNHCR has a chance to find permanent homes for such boat refugees, you may be interested in one further development on this issue as far as it affects Hong Kong. I emphasize that the people we are talking about are solely the "boat cases" and do not include e.g. the thousands of Vietnamese who escaped to Thailand by other means.
3.
The Americans here are still keen to develop procedures which will allow them within the framework of "an international setting" to resettle a fair share of these Vietnamese boat refugees in the United States.
4.
Like us, they emphasize that any moves that are made must depend upon the assumption by the UNHCR or his local representative of responsibility for the maintenance of the refugees from the time that they land somewhere in the region and until they arrive in the United States.
5.
The United States Immigration and Naturalisation Service officials in the US Consulate-General here are prepared to visit countries in the region where these boat people turn up in order to give a screening to find if they are qualified for entry to the United States.
6.
For those who are found to be so qualified, the Americans think they can work out a system using the unused part of the long established 'China quota' under their
CONFIDENTIAL
/contd.....
74/.