Hong Kong, though not by any means all of these are in the normal sense refugees; the figure includes some 4,500 former Hong Kong residents and their dependents who have left Ho Chi Minh City in the last year in flights organised by the Hong Kong Government with the assistance of the British Embassy in Hanoi. The Hong Kong Government, with help from NHCR, has also arranged for the re-settlement of a large number of refugees in the USA, France and Canada, and smaller numbers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Dermark and the United Kingdom. Coming on top of the continuing influx of illegal immigrants from China, the need to look after the refugees has placed heavy strains on the Hong Kong services and on the tolerance of the population of an already overcrowded territory.
Viet-Namese refugees continue to arrive in Hong Kong in small numbers, either directly or after having been picked up at sea. Of the 400 or so "boat people" currently in Hong Kong, some 200 have no immediate prospect of re-settlement in other countries.
Up to the end of February 1978 the United Kingdom had accepted 46 "boat people" picked up by Hong Kong registered vessels. The British Government are now discussing with all concerned the possibility of accepting into the United Kingdom a number of Viet-Name se refugees at present in the Colony.
Co-operation between the Hong Kong authorities and UNHCR in respect of "boat rofugees" arriving there is excellent, and reflects credit on all those involved.
The United Kingdom contributed £750,000 in the financial year ending March 1978 to the UNHCR's programme for South East Asian refugees (as shown in the Table of Contributors annexed to the 1978 Programme).
As I come close to my departure from Geneva on retirement from our Diplomatic Service, I should like to
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