INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES
CONFIDENTIAL
Note of a meeting at HM Treasury on 4 January 1979.
Those present were
Miss M King
Home Office
HM Treasury
Mr C D Butler (In the Chair)
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Mr C H Taylor Mr J W Cane Mr M E Head
Finance Div
Mr M Reith
UN Department
Mr P Morgan
II Division
Mr WE Quantrill
Mr P R Burleigh
Miss G M Griffith
12 Division
Mr B Smith
-
11
Hong Kong and
General Dept
South East Asian Dept
1. The Foreign Secretary had written to the Home Secretary to ask for
agreement to the UK accepting 1,500 Indo-Chinese refugees in addition
to the existing open-ended commitment to accept those Vietnamese
'boat-people' picked up by UK registered ships. The meeting was called
to discuss the Home Office letter to the Treasury of 13 December about the
possible financial implications.
2.
Treasury officials thought that the Treasury would have no objection to the proposal to accept 1,500, provided the Home Office could absorb
the cost within their existing Public Expenditure provision. If there
were uncertainty about the ultimate cost, and in view of the existing
open-ended commitment to accept boat-people picked up by UK registered ships, they would need to alert Treasury Ministers to the potential
claim on the contingency reserve. Whether a claim, and an amendment
to the relevant cash limit, would in fact be necessary would need to be
discussed if and when costs did exceed the Home Office provision for refugees. It might well be found that the Home Office could absorb the
additional amount within their overall provision.
CONFIDENTIAL