From: Jack Ashley C.H., M.P.
158
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HKK 243/1
RECEIVED IN R«CISTRY NO. 51
DESK CAFE
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INDEX
19 JAN1979 HOUSE OF COMMONS
FREONDON SWIA OAA
ion
ᎾᎥᎢ
No I Mal. I CLE
Rt. Hon. David Owen, House of Commons
Den David
15th January 1979 JA/MC
HK+GA. CPS
VB/Lord Goronwy Roberts
Ps/Mur & ward 181, Sir A. Duff
Mr Cortaggi
Mr Wer
Mr Murray
Mr Stephen UND. News D.
The desperate plight of the 2,700 refugees, 1,000 of them children, on board the Huey Fong just outside Hong Kong requires your urgent intervention. I have just returned from Hong Kong and I am convinced that a new initiative is required from you to tackle the twin problems of the Huey Fong refugees and the larger one of the growing exodus of refugees from Vietnam and nearby countries.
So far as the Huey Fong refugees are concerned, I hope you will use your good offices to persuade the Hong Kong Government to accept them immediately on a temporary basis because their condition is deteriorating, and no civilised community can leave them stranded at sea indefinitely. At the same time you should ask all members of the United Nations to accept an equivalent number of refugees from those already awaiting settlement in Hong Kong.
I hope you can persuade the Hong Kong Government to act, on humanitarian grounds, on the following five conditions:
1. That the Huey Fong refugees should be given temporary refuge pending their resettlement in other countries.
2. That they should take their place in the queue of the existing 5,000 refugees in Hong Kong awaiting resettlement.
3. That the Hong Kong Government gives clear warning that this emergency procedure will not be repeated and that in future it will adhere to the first port of call principle. This would prevent the abuse of Hong Kong's humanitarian action.
4. That the United Nations Commission on Refugees be asked to pay the costs of caring for the Huey Fong refugees when they are landed in Hong Kong.
5. That you make immediate representation to the U.N. Commission on Refugees to persuade member countries to speed their resettlement procedures.
As the general problem of refugees is now escalating to disaster proportions, requiring immediate international action, I hope that you will convene an international conference as soon as possible. Its aim should be to prepare a specific plan of obligations for a refugee quota to be allocated to parti- cipating countries. Too many countries are at present evading their moral responsibilities. Such a conference could be organised in conjunction with the UN Commission. But the need for action is urgent if the growing flood of refugees is not to become human flotsam and jetsam destined for tragedy.
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