BY BAG
市政司署
香港下亞
本署檔號 OUR REF.:
來函檔號 YOur Ref.:
畢道
CONFIDENTIAL
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
NICK 243/2
Y NO. 51
10 OCT 1980
..
OFFICER
INDEX
PA
713.11
10
K FX Burns Esq ME
FED
FCO
Apk
REGISTRY Action Taken
Аю
27 September 1980
Monie 20. Williamón J8.00
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: THE UK PROGRAMME
As you can imagine, Vietnamese refugees were one of the topics raised with Mr Timothy Raison during his visit here. He visited four refugee camps and was questioned fairly closely at a press conference on 21 September about the present quota and the possibility of a new one. On the present quota, he said at the press conference that he expected it to be filled by February or March 1981. He was guarded about the possibility of a new quota and said that no decision had yet been made. He emphasised that an international effort was needed to help solve the remaining problem in Hong Kong. I am enclosing a transcript of his answers. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, the journalists' questions could not be recorded, but they are easy to deduce.
2.
In talking to officials, Mr Raison was also studiously non-committal about a new quota. He explained at length the UK's difficulties and feelings in the Conservative Party about immigration in general. However, when he met the Governor on 19 September, he did discuss what would be the minimum size of a new quota from the UK sufficient to meet Hong Kong's requirement of ensuring that others, particularly the US and Canada, continued their own programmes. The Governor speke generally on the lines of our telno 1170 of 12 September. He said he thought the minimum was a quota of 5,000 to include rescues at sea. Such a quota need not have a precise time limit so long as it was understood that the refugees would be resettled as soon
as practicable.
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