1
BACKGROUND NOTE
CONFIDENTIAL
INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES
1.
Mr Philip Goodhart MP has put down for the Adjournment Debate
on Friday, 15 December: "The position of the Vietnamese refugees".
An FCO Minister will make a statement then on this matter.
Mr Ronald Bell MP put down a Private Notice Question on the subject
on 11 December. It was disallowed. He may return to the charge at
the Prime Minister's Question Time.
2. Mr Evan Luard is currently leading the UK delegation to the
international consultations called by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva on 11/12 December.
purpose is to try to find solutions to the Indo-Chinese refugee
problem.
The
3. The outflow of refugees from Vietnam has risen dramatically
in the past few months. In October, over 12,000 left by small
boats and arrived at various shores in South-East Asia. Several
thousand in excess of this are believed to have left in November.
The greatest influx has been to Malaysia (with 45,000 in camps), Hong
Kong (with about 4,000) and Thailand (with 2,000 plus about 130,000
other refugees from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam who arrived earlier
overland). So far the major countries of permanent resettlement
have been the USA, Australia, France and Canada, with smaller numbers
going to a score of other countries including the United Kingdom.
CYMIT DYERN HET AT
14.