CONFIDENTIAL
ANNEX
ATTITUDE OF MARITIME NATIONS TO VIETNAMESE BOAT REFUGEES
1.
The following 12 countries are now known to have given
commitments to accept for resettlement any refugees picked up by their
flag vessels:
Australia (on a case by case basis)
Belgium (refugees to be delivered to Belgium, not to
first port of call)
Canada (automatic acceptance)
Denmark (no public commitment)
France (automatic acceptance)
FRG (last resort)
Greece (no public commitment)
Italy (last resort)
Netherlands (automatic acceptance)
Norway (last resort)
2
Sweden (also meets cost of rescue)
2.
USA (last resort)
The position of Japan has not yet been ascertained, but the
Department of Trade are pressing them for a reply.
3. It is impossible to quantify the numbers of refugees whom
British ships might rescue over any given period, but the following
table of pick-up incidents in the first five months of 1979 (provided
in response to an enquiry by the Department of Trade) suggests that
sizeable rescues like that by the Sibonga may be statistically rare:
1
CONFIDENTIAL
/UK