3
CONFIDENTIAL
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
Наука
HKK 243||
RECKIVID
2 MAI
e
51
(733)
DESK OF A
INDEX
Mr Wands 29.5
PA
1.
The British-registered vessel MV Sibonga (British Bank the picked up 984 Vietnamese refugees at sea on 21 May and is due to Another British- arrive with them in Hong Kong early on 24 May.
registered vessel, the MV Roachbank, also owned by the Bank Line, has today picked up a further 293 refugees en route for Kaohsiung
in Taiwan, where it is due on 25 May.
However, Asian countries Most of them now refuse
2. In the past the conventional practice has been for ships rescuing Indo-Chinese refugees at sea to take them to the "next scheduled port of call" and land them there. have been taking an increasingly tough line. to allow refugees rescued at sea to disembark without an undertaking from the country of registration of the rescuing vessel that it will accept for permanent resettlement any refugees not settled elsewhere within an agreed period. The previous British Government announced in August 1978 that where the rescuing vessel was registered at a port in the UK such an undertaking would be given when required. Some other Western countries, eg France, Germany and Norway ard known to follow similar practice. At least 650 Indo-Chinese refugees have been settled in this country after having been rescued at sea by The commitment British-registered ships since the beginning of 1977.
is open ended, ie over and above any declared quota of refugees from camps accepted for settlement.
3. The Governor of Hong Kong has asked for an assurance that if the refugees on board the Sibonga are allowed to land there the UK will give a resettlement undertaking on the lines announced by the previous Government. Mr Blaker wrote to Mr Raison at the Home Office Flag A in support of this request on 22 May. There is no doubt that the
authorities in Taiwan will require a similar undertaking before allowing the refugees on board the Roachbank to disembark. In October last year the British-registered (and owned) MV Wellpark picked up 346 refugees en route to Taiwan. We were eventually obliged to arrange a charter flight (exceptionally at UNHCR expense) to bring them to
the UK.
CONFIDENTIAL
14.
·