Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
Telephone 01-233 8631
1209
27/5 Hram 22.6
UNCLASSIFIED
Your reference
S F Howarth Esq
Hkk 243/1
Our reference
WASHINGTON
RECEIVED
Date
26 June 1979
#
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: SIBONGA
1. Ian Soutar wrote to me on 22 June as a result of a telephone Conversation he had had with Mrs Emma Nih, enquiring about the whereabouts of the Lai family who were believed to have been rescued by the Sibonga.
2. The Lai family do not appear on the list sent to us by Hong Kong of those survivors rescued by the Sibonga who are to come to the United Kingdom. I understand, however, that there were about 60 names not included in that list. These were of refugees who were thought to be eligible for the US programme. If the Lai family were indeed rescued by the Sibonga then it appears likely (and Ian Orr will no doubt confirm this) that they will be on the list of those eligible for the US programme, especially since the husband is already in the United States.
3. Ian Soutar asked, more generally, whether I could suggest the best channel for dealing with such questions in the future since it seemed likely that enquiries of this kind would increase as the refugee exodus continued. It would, I think, be best to write, as Ian has already done in the case of the Lai family, to us here in London copying the correspondence to whichever post in South East Asia seems appropriate (such as to Hong Kong in the case of ships putting in there). We shall do what we can to help with as much speed as possible.
4.
You may care to note, however, that responsibilities within the Office for the Indo-China refugee problem have recently had to be re-defined because of the growing scale of the problem. SEAD now take the lead on all Indo-China refugee affairs liaising as appropriate with HK&GD and UND on specific aspects of the issue.
P Morgan
UN Department
cc: I C Orr Esq
Assistant Political Adviser
HONG KONG
MVD
/SEAD