Mr Stimson
RESTRICTEL
Reference RESEA
REGISTRY No. 25
15..... 1979
CAS
INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES
1.
Mr John Neary (First Secretary) of the Irish Embassy called yesterday, on instructions, to ask whether the UK was proposing to offer resettlement places for Indo- Chinese refugees.
2. I gave him details of the numbers already accepted by the UK and of our open-ended commitment in respect of refugees rescued by British ships. I also said the Government were urgently considering admitting a further special quota, over and above our present commitments, as part of a wider international effort to provide resettlement places and in response to UNHCR appeals. I impressed on
Mr Neary the serious problems faced by Hong Kong and handed him a copy of the Hansard extract of the recent House of Commons debate on Indo-Chinese refugees.
3. I asked Mr Neary whether the Irish Government was proposing to make any resettlement places available for Vietnamese refugees. He said they were now considering the matter but wanted to consult other Governments first. This was why he had called on me. He thought, however, that his Government were thinking in terms of admitting about 40 Vietnamese families as a one-off contribution to the problem. They would, however, be flexible over the exact number. I re-emphasised the problems faced by Hong Kong because of the increasing backlog of refugees awaiting resettlement there and said I knew it would be very much appreciated by the Hong Kong Government if the Republic of Ireland could take even a few families from Hong Kong. He undertook to pass this on to Dublin.
12 January 1979
cc: HK&GD
SEAD
Renz
Pl. forward
Uni2/1
Pat Morgan
United Nations Department
HKK 243/1
RECEIVES
A 1979
NO.
PZ Action Toke
4
CODE 18-77
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