Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT
LETTER
To:-
Mrs A C Grasmeder The Ridge Hastings
Sussex TN 34 2QP
Type 1 +
From
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
DSR 11
Thank you for your letter of 29 August. There is
little that I can add to the reply which Mr Bosomworth of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office sent to your letter of
9 August.
You ask why, when cuts in public expenditure are
being made, the Government are contributing £5 million to the
relief of refugees from Indo-China. I can only repeat that the
considered
Government' belief that a financial contribution on this
scale, and the admission of some refugees to Britain for
permanent settlement, were the right response to an appalling
human tragedy. I am sorry if you disagree.
Britain has of course a particular concern with this
problem because of our responsibility for Hong Kong. Hong
Kong is not the only territory in the region to have been
faced with refugees arriving in large numbers; Malaysia,
Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines have all had their
share. However, Hong Kong's very small size and densely
packed population means that the problem is especially acute
there. That is why we have appealed to the international
community to relieve the burden in Hong Kong as quickly as
possible.
Dd 0532000 800M 5/78 H~ SO Bracknell