the Home Secretary announced last week his decision to admit
a further 1,500 Vietnamese refugees.
All this is quite apart
from the Government's freely accepted commitment to take
ultimate responsibility for all refugees who are rescued by
vessels registered in the United Kingdom. There have been
many such rescue operations involving our ships; these will
undoubtedly continue. It may seem out of place to mention
money in the context of so much human suffering, but you may
wish to know that the United Kingdom is a leading contributor
to the High Commissioner's funds which provide for the needs
of all these refugees. Last year, we gave him nearly £7
million, of which over £2 million was earmarked for his
programmes in Indo-China.
With regard to the HUEY FONG, you will have heard from media
reports that the vessel's passengers were recently all
permitted to disembark at Hong Kong, despite the fact that
the ship was scheduled to go to Taiwan rather than Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Government's decision was taken for humanitarian
reasons, which I applaud. But there are now over 9,000
Vietnamese refugees in the tiny overcrowded Colony who are
awaiting resettlement elsewhere. The Colony's ability to
absorb more people is severely limited and there is genuine
concern for the future. The number of new arrivals is growing
daily and the Colony's ability to cope is already severely
stretched.
As your constituent recognises, the HUEY FONG affair was but
a small part of a much wider and very complex refugee
situation in Indo-China.
The subject was debated in the
House last month, when I reported on the recent international consultations called by the High Commissioner for Refugees
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