CONFIDENTIAL
26.
15.CAPACITY. FOR RECEIVING MORE REFUGEES
1. The fotal capacity of the reception accommodation now being used for the Vietnamese refugees by the voluntary refugee crganisations is between 1,500 and 2,000. The voluntary refugee
organisations think that they would be able to find extra
T
accommodation if this was necessary but it is not clear on what
scale. However, an influx of (say) over : 1,000 over a short
space of time while the present accommodation was still occupied
would almost certainly mean either that more camps would have
to be opened or that the Government would have to find other
suitable premises (eg redundant hospitals or teachers' training
colleges).
2. Factors which determine the length of time spent in reception
centres and, hence, also affect the capacity for receiving more
refugees are the availability of long-term housing and employment
opportunities.
3. So far, refugees have had to spend, as a general rule, little
more than 3-6 months in a reception centre, before they are
settled in permanent local authority housing. The voluntary
bodies have received an encouraging response from local authorities
in respect of the refugees who have arrived up to now;
their overall response to the situation created by the Sibonga
and the Roach Bank has yet to be tested.
have now offered 400-500 housing units
The GLC, however,
mostly in Greater London.
CONFIDENTIAL