CONFIDENTIAL
DSR 11C
1911, Geneva 1958 and London 1960) to rescue persons in
distress at sea. Some have merely provided succour on
the high seas and proceeded on their way but this is not
always feasible eg in the event of a refugee vessel
sinking (eg Ashford). Other flag ships may be following
similar practices. If the UK offer of places for refugees
is large enough to accommodate those picked up at
up at sea by
British ships then this problem will be alleviated if
guarantees can be given automatically at once.
B Deployment of a Rescue Vessel
of_a_
The Italians (and it is believed the French) have deployed
a small naval task force in the South China Sea to pick
up refugees in distress to help fill the vacuum left by
re-routed commercial vessels. A charitable organisation
is believed to be seeking to time charter a vessel to
carry out a similar function. It would be appropriate
for the UK to offer to support this operation by offering
a ship of its own as a practical demonstration of its willingness to solve the current crisis and its humanity.
Some 30 50% of those refugees who set out in small
boats are thought to drown. The vessel could also act
as a mobile collecting point for refugees picked up by
British ships and would be welcomed by British Shipowners.
Any refugees rescued in this way could be deducted from
any UK quota offered. The vessel should also be able to re-supply and carry out repairs afloat to refugee boats
when this will enable them to reach land under their own
power.
It would be expensive to charter such a vessel and it
would be wrong to divert funds pledged to UNHCR to meet
the cost. Little or no cost would be incurred however
by deploying a suitable Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) although she might be diverted from some other task.
In principle however RFAs have to be kept operational so that funds are already committed. They also need
to exercise and train crews. Deployment in the South
China Sea would provide real situations and would
contribute to the morale of any crew. Working with the
Italian task force could be seen in the context of NATO
cooperation. A suitable type of RFA Wodd be the
might
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CONFIDENTIAL