Reference
АКК
Unclassified
Mr Thompson
Hong Kong and General Department
K 24
HK KQ 248/1
འབའ
INDEX
GAMANO. 51
No lo
FLIGHTS FROM HO CHI MINH CITY TO HONG KONG
1.
ば
See
17
Mr Heidler, the UNHCR representative in London, telephoned me to ask whether we could help with some information on air transport from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong. He said he understood that Cathay Pacific operated fairly frequent flights between the two cities bringing out of Vietnam some Vietnamese nationals who had been given permission to leave.
2.
Mr Heidler asked whether the Hong Kong authorities would approve of UNHCR putting some of their people (Cambodian refugees in Vietnam or Vietnamese nationals who the government had agreed to let out for reasons of family reunification) on these flights from Ho Chi Minh City. Most of the people con- cerned would be bound for the USA. He also said that UNHCR would need a processing place to deal with their people coming into Hong Kong (assuming it was agreed to carry them on the Cathay Pacific flights) and asked whether they could be kept in Hong Kong, temporarily, until the Americans and UNHCR had made arrangements for their onward travel. I asked what would happen if some of these people (again assuming the Hong Kong authorities would agree to accept these refugees in transit) were rejected by US officials for entry into the USA. Mr Heidler replied that UNHCR would give an undertaking to remove them from Hong Kong as soon as possible.
3. I asked Mr Heidler why his request was being made at this particular time. He said UNHCR had, at present, arrangements to remove some refugees from Vietnam on flights operated by Air France presumably flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok. This arrangement would, however, be coming to an end and UNHCR were seeking alternatives.
4.
I told Mr Heidler I would let him have a reply in due course. You will no doubt wish to consult Hong Kong on this matter. I should be grateful, however, if you would let me know in due course what to tell Mr Heidler: we should like to be helpful if we can to UNHCR. If the point in the last two sentences of paragraph 2 above should prove to be a stumbling block, I hope the Hong Kong authorities will not reject the request outright. I hope Hong Kong can discuss this matter further with the UNHCR representative there.
Релация
P Morgan
United Nations Department
CODE 18 - 17
27 February 1978
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SEAD