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4.
OSTENSIBLY, UNHCR HAVE BEEN WORRIED THAT THEIR OPER MONS IN
HONG KONG MIGHT BE OVERWHELMED BY REFUGEES WHO WENT BY LAND FROM
CHINA TO VIETNAM AND THEN CAME ON TO HONG KONG BY BOAT. FROM LATE
1978 TO FEBRUARY 1979 THERE WERE MANY BOATS FROM NORTH VIETNAM
WHICH WERE GIVEN SHELTER IN CHINA FOR SUFFICIENTLY LONG PERIOD TO
ALLOW SOME LAND-CROSSERS TO JOIN. HOWEVER, OUR OWN INVESTIGATIONS, FULLY SHARED WITH UNHCR, SHOWED THAT THE NUMBER OF LAND-CROSSERS
REACHING HONG KONG WAS SMALL. WE BELIEVE THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED
BY THE UNHCR TEAM WHICH RECENTLY EXAMINED THE PROBLEM HERE AND
THAT THEIR REPORT SHOWS THAT ONLY A FEW HUNDRED REFUGEES ARE IN THIS CATEGORY. FURTHERMORE, REPRESENTATIONS TO THE CHINESE ON THIS PROBLEM HAVE HAD A MARKED EFFECT. WE HAVE HAD REPORTS OF
RESTRICTIONS ON THE TRAVEL OF REFUGEES ALREADY IN CHINA TO COASTAL
AREAS GIVING ACCESS TO HONG KONG SEMI-COLON SINCE THE END OF
FEBRUARY ONLY FOUR OUT OF NEARLY TWO HUNDRED SMALL BOATS ARRIVING
IN HONG KONG HAVE SHOWN EVIDENCE OF SIGNIFICANT PERIODS SPENT IN
CHINA.
5.
UNHCR OFFICIALS TO WHOM WE TALKED AT THE RECENT MEETING IN
JAKARTA, INDICATED THAT HARTLING'S REAL CONCERN IS OVER THE RESETTLEMENT PROSPECTS OF REFUGEES FROM NORTH VIETNAM. WE HOPE
CLARK WILL REPEAT THE ASSURANCE HE GAVE US THAT REFUGEES FROM THE NORTH (PROVIDED THEY ARE NOT LAND-CROSSERS) ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE U.S PROGRAMME (MY TELNO.9 TO UKMIS GENEVA, PARA.9). THIS IS
IN ANY CASE BORNE OUT BY THE FACT THAT, DESPITE THE SMALL NUMBER OF REFUGEES FROM NORTH VIETNAM WHO HAVE BEEN PROCESSED BY THE
UNHCR OFFICE HERE, 103 HAVE ALREADY BEEN SETTLED IN THE US AND
A FURTHER 132 ARE IN THE PIPELINE,
6.
FOR GEOGRAPHICAL REASONS HONG KONG IS BOUND TO RECEIVE
VIRTUALLY ALL THE BOATS WHICH LEAVE NORTH VIETNAM, NOW THAT VERY
FEW ARE ALLOWED TO LAND IN CHINA. HOWEVER, A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER
2
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/OF