CONFIDENTIAL
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land available to develop further refugee accommodation. For these reasons Macau would only allow to land boats which were unseaworthy and could not be repaired and refugees in need of urgent medical attention. Marques, and subsequently the Governor, claimed that refugee boats were not directed towards Hong Kong but. were towed in the direction of China. This last point is not to be taken seriously. It is clear that the towing vessels take the refugees further out of Macau than is strictly necessary and on a route which encourages them to head towards Hong Kong rather than China. Nobody can be in any doubt that vessels towed out of Macau will, unless they sink, come on to Hong Kong.
3.
One difficulty which Macau faces is that hardly any processing has been done by the UNHCR since November 1978 for settlement of direct arrivals in Macau. Departures in recent months from Macau have been of pre--November 1978 direct arrivals or refugees temporarily transferred from here pending onward movement under an arrangement which has now since ceased. The local UNHCR representative has admitted frankly that he has neglected Macau because of the pressure of work here.
4.
My impression is that, so far as dealing with refugees is concerned, Macau is effectively independent. I suspect that little is to be gained by making formal representations in Lisbon although it would be helpful if the Embassy could take a suitable opportunity to mention informally that our problems, and public concern, are being compounded by the way Macau is tackling the problem.
5.
Further pressure for Macau to take its fair share is probably best applied here by us and the UNHCR. In order for the latter to be done effectively, and to deal with Macau's legitimate complaint that refugees there are processed exceedingly slowly, we see no alternative to there being a UNHCR official from their permanent international staff stationed in Macau. Unless you see objection, I would be grateful if UKMIS Geneva could urge this strongly on the UNHCR. We believe that the Americans share our concern over UNHCR's lack of activity in Macau and UKMIS Geneva may well find the Americans would be willing to support their approach.
6.
Realistically, we must recognise that Macau is indeed much smaller than Hong Kong and, like us, is vulnerable to boat refugees from Vietnam by geographical accident. Indeed Macau is a natural supply point for sailing vessels from North Vietnam headed
/contă.
CONFIDENTIAL