G7 300
RESTRICTED
FAMANILA 120830Z FEB 79
RESTRICTED --
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELEGRAM NUMBER 076 OF 13 FEBRUARY !
HKK 243/1
364
PP COF
AVESKI REGISTAT N ST
14 FEB 1979
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INFO PRIORITY GOVERNOR HONG KONG, ROUTINE UKMIS GENEVA HASHINGTON, CANBERRA, OTTAWA AND HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON. SAVING TO HANOI, KUALA LUMPUR, BANGKOK,' SINGAPORE AND JAKARTA.
(348)
MY TELNO 070: TUNG AN AND VIETNAMESE REGUGEES GENERALLY.
1. AT HIS MEETING TODAY TO WHICH ALL RESIDENT HEADS OF MISSION WERE
INVITED ROMULO MADE A STRONG PLEA FOR FURTHER HELP BUT MAIN OUTCOME WAS TO EMPHASISE THAT PRESENT PROBLEM HERE IS RELATIVELY SMALL. 2. THERE ARE NOW ONLY SOME 1500 REFUGEES IN MANILA FABELLA CENTRE, WELL BELOW PEAK CAPACITY, AND BY MID-YEAR, WHEN OFFERS FROM UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA AND CANADA HAVE BEEN PROCESSED, THERE WILL BE LESS THAN 700. ROMULO THEREFORE CAME UNDER SOME PRESSURE TO TRANSFER REFUGEES FROM TUNG AN ASHORE AND THUS REDUCE GRAVE HEALTH HAZARD
ABOUT WHICH HE HAD MADE MUCH PLAY: HE SAID THIS WOULD RISK ENCOUR- AGING FURTHER REFUGEE SHIPS TO COME HERE. NAVAL COMMANDER, WHO WAS PRESENT, MADE IT CLEAR HIS RESOURCES ARE TOO SMALL TO GUARANTEE THAT MORE SUCH SHIPS WILL NOT GET THROUGH.
3. THERE WAS NO SUGGESTION OF A NEW TIME LIMIT BY WHICH REFUGEES
SHOULD BE MOVED FROM TUNG AN: AND SEVERAL SPEAKERS BROUGHT OUT ·
FACT THAT ALL EXPENSES PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE FOR MAINTENANCE
OF REFUGEES BOTH ON VESSEL AND ON SHORE WILL BE BORNE BY UNHCR. 4. I WAS NOT INCLUDED IN A GENERAL CANVASS OF WHAT VARIOUS
COUNTRIES THERE REPRESENTED WERE DOING BUT WAS ASKED TO SPEAK ABOUT
HONG KONG, AGAINST BACKGROUND OF HONG KONG BEING ONE OF MOST
OVERCROWDED PLACES IN THE WORLD, ABSORBING SOME 100,000 LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ANNUALLY FROM CHINA AND CONTENDING AT THIS MOMENT WITH FAR LARGER NUMBER OF REFUGEES THAN PHILIPPINES (ALMOST 11,000 ON SHORE AND 3,000 MORE ON SKYLUCK), I SAID I THOUGHT HONG KONG RESPONSE IN ACCEPTING 20 FROM TUNG AN AND EXAMINING.
AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE ALMOST 83 MORE CLAIMING GOOD CONNECTIONS
VERY GENEROUS. THERE WAS NO DEMUR AT THIS AND NOTHING WAS SAID
ABOUT FIRST PORT OF CALL PRINCIPLE.
5. INDONESIAN BRIEFLY MENTIONED PROPOSED PROCESSING CENTRE, SAYING
AN ISLAND MIGHT BE FOUND IF ALL EXPENSES WERE TAKEN CARE OF. UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE SAID THIS SUBJECT WAS BEING EXAMINED URGENTLY AND
IT THEN DIED.
RESTRICTED
/ 6. PRESS WERE