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See 126
HKK 243/1
Lee 28+89
RECEIVED IN REGSTRY NO. 51
12 JAN1979
DESK OF CE
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ces forpps
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QUEEN ANNE'S GATE LONDON SW¿Í 9AT
January, 1979:
85
SEA
PS Lord Gorenwy Roberts HK+ G1)
UND
LOC BS
ill
CLE
Ps fr Luard
BS PUS
Now Certazzi
Air Murray Mr Figer
FED
MUD
NEWS (
Dear David
INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES
attatcheek
Mer weer
0.1.0
Thank you for your minute of 6th December asking me to agree to admit 1,500 Vietnamese refugees over the next 9-12 months from refugee camps in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.
Following
I am very sympathetic to the problems you describe. the discussions our respective officials have had with the Treasury, and informal soundings which we have taken of the British Council for Aid to Refugees, I am satisfied that it would be practicable for us to take these people. I am glad, therefore, to be able to agree (subject to the points of detail I make below) to your proposals. is on the understanding, of course, that our acceptance of the 1,500 is, as you say, a one-off response to the international problem and that it carries with it no commitment to take further groups from the Indo-Chinese area beyond those picked up by British ships.
Thi
There remains a large number of practical problems to be overcomo. My officials will immediately set in hand discussions with the other Government Departments concerned (and I am particularly conscious here of the importance of consulting the local authorities which are likely to be involved) and the voluntary refugee organisations. One matter to which we shall need to give particular attention is the selection of the people who are to come here and I would like my officials to be closely involved in this.
Some time will be needed to make the necessary arrangements and I doubt, therefore, whether it will be possible to take many of the 1,500 earlier than the 9-12 month period beginning on 1st April. (The precise timing may in any case be affected by any large numbers of refugees who might be picked up by British ships.) However, there is a possibility of our being able to take a small group in late February or the beginning of March and we are urgently looking into this.
Although I see no difficulty about your present proposal I think it would be helpful for the Prime Minister, and our colleagues in HS,
The Rt. Hon. David Owen, M.P.
CONFIDENTIA
/to be made