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Mr Murray
CONFIDENTIAL
HKK243|1)
(14.081)
Mr Mchaveir HK.G.D.
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Vietnamese Refugees:
Meeting with the Home Secretary
Following discussion with you, the Governor, Mr Wilson and Sir Murray MacLehose this morning, the Secretary of State called on Mr Whitelaw. Sir Murray MacLehose and I went with him.
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Lord Carrington said that we had a problem over the period in which our quota of 10,000 refugees would be brought into this country. Sir Murray MacLehose said that his problem was with the Hong Kong public and the United States. If the British Government took 10,000 refugees over the kind of timescale which the US expected, then the United States would do more for Hong Kong, ie by taking up to 2-3000 refugees a month. This would make an enormous difference to Hong Kong and to Britain. If we took 10,000 over 3 years it would quickly become apparent that we were only taking 3,300 a year and the Americans would not live up to their commitment. He hoped that the Home Secretary could agree to start off by taking 500 refugees a month, ie a quarter or a fifth of the US intake. If after a few months it was found to be practically difficult to absorb refugees at : this rate then there would be a new situation. Hong Kong could help with some preprocessing, eg by teaching English and general . help through the voluntary agencies.
Mr Whitelaw said that the political difficulties over refugees were less than they had been, and he agreed that we should set off at a "good spanking pace". After some discussion of whether last week's Cabinet decision allowed a faster rate of flow than 3,300 a year, Mr Whitelaw agreed that we should aim to start off by taking 500 refugees a month. If after a few months it looked possible to continue at that rate, and therefore to absorb the 10,000 in under 3 years, it would be necessary to report to colleagues. Lord Carrington said that his statement to the House of Lords would make reference to the refugees being taken "over a period to be agreed with the Governor". Sir Murray MacLehose said that he would say in Hong Kong that the rate of flow would depend on experience over the first few months.
Mr Bradman's Proposal for the Mercy Ship
Sir Murray MacLehose said that there would be obvious prob- lems if the proposed mercy ship were to pick up refugees in large numbers and
these had to be deducted from the overall quota. There was however a more serious issue. He had heard from our informal representative in Singapore that when the ILE DE LUMIERE venture had been announced there had been a massive increase in applications to leave Vietnam and that the price had gone up by 2 ounces of gold. The announcement about the ILE DE LUMIERE had encouraged people to set out into the South China Sea where at any one time there were 300-400 boats and only a faint likelihood
CONFIDENTIAL
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