DRAFT PASSAGE FOR INCLUSION IN PRIME MINISTER'S REPLY TO PRESIDENT CARTER'S LETTER OF 14 MAY
I am deeply concerned about the refugee situation
in South East Asia, and in particular about the increasing
flood of boat refugees from Vietnam. The impact in
Hong Kong, where more than 36,000 Vietnamese refugees
have arrived this year, is now very serious indeed. We
need a concerted international effort to deal with this
problem, firstly to get more countries to open their
doors to these unfortunate refugees, but also to bring
more effective pressure to bear on the Vietnamese
Government to stop exporting their unwanted people.
I think it would be helpful if we could discuss this in
Tokyo.