THE PRIME MINISTER
10 DOWNING STREET
Cafes
H
12 July 1979
The
ford Shawcross,
Thank you for your letter of 27 June, and its enclosures,
about refugees in Indo-China. I gather you have written in similar terms to Peter Carrington.
I am keenly aware of the appalling conditions in which many
of the refugees survive, and of the dangers they run to escape from the Community tyrannies in Indo-China. That was why I
first proposed that the international community should consult
together, with a view to agreeing on practical measures for the refugees' welfare. We shall play a full part in the meeting
Dr. Waldheim has called in Geneva on 20/21 July.
seeing Dr. Waldheim in London on 12 July.
I shall be
By the special statement on Indo-Chinese refugees issued
at the Tokyo Summit, we are committed significantly to increase
our contribution to Indo-China refugee relief and resettlement
by making more funds available and by admitting more people, while taking into account social and economic circumstances in
our country. We stand by this undertaking.
In the last ten years over 730,000 immigrants have come
here. None the less, we have continued to honour the special
quota of 1,500 Indo-Chinese refugees set by the previous
Government, 250 of whom were to come from Thailand.
More
/ recently
LON
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