larger than we can contemplate offering. So our stance would be a difficult one of arguing that the international practice should be reinstated whilst recognising that it won't be, and therefore arguing that this creates probably proportionately more problems for British ships than for those of other flags. The resolution of this problem is difficult to foresee, but the Home Secretary takes the view that, while we have this unquantifiable commitment which we maintain, in fact, that we ought not to have it is not possible for us to agree to any quota from the camps in Hong Kong or elsewhere in addition to the 1,500 we, have already undertaken to accept. It might be possible to envisage a solution in which we accepted a modest quota whilst maintaining that any refugees picked up by British ships which it proves impossible to get dis- embarked at the next or subsequent ports of call are offset against the quota. This, however, would make planning difficult unless we operated on the quota say six months in arrears after we had seen what unexpected commitments, if any, needed to be off- set against it.
Ideally, the Home Secretary would have preferred to reserve his comments until he had seen a report of Mr Blaker's' meeting with Mr Hartling, but time is short and he has therefore asked me to write to you now although he may want to modify his ideas when we get Mr Blaker's report.
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(P J WOODFIELD)
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