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5. r Love said the Home Office would like to see the Home Office file
reference on each VPL to speed enquiries from either our Embassy in Hanoi or an Immigration Officer at the port, It was agreed that this
was a good idea and the use of the new VPL could commence immediately.
It remains for Hanoi to decide whether or not they wish to continue
their usual practice of adding their own serial number to each VPL, for
their own records.
6.
It was agreed that the Embassy should send copies of the VPL, plus
an explanatory letter to each successful applicant informing them that
the UNHCR will be writing to them directly in due course. This was to
discourage further correspondence and work. The text is to be agreed
between the Embassy and the UNHCR in Hanoi.
7. Mr Jamieson said that he, the Vice-Consul and the Head of Chancery
in Hanoi, had met the UNHCR representative in Hanoi, Mr Bill Clarence, and found him to be co-operative and forthcoming. It emerged that
neither the UNHCR in Hanoi nor the Embassy in Hanoi had a consolidated
list of acceptances. Mr Love explained that the Home Office did not have an up-to-date list but that they informed the UNHCR in London of
all acceptances. The UNHCR would be able to provide both Mr Clarence
and our Embassy with a list of acceptances and the state of play of each
case.
8. Mr Jamieson asked how much room there was in the reception centres
in the UK and if there was a problem over housing. Mr Love, speaking personally and off the record, said that there were plenty of offers of houses from local authorities but problems arose when the refugees were
ready for release from the reception centres and the houses did not
materialise. Large families had to be split up. The refugees are housed all over the country but many are centred in the new towns like Milton Keynes. BSAR have some funds and they provide some housing too. The number of acceptances is not related to the number of houses
available, Mr Love also explained that there was a problem about
employing many of the refugees because of the language barrier. only had sufficient English for " survival" purposes.
They
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/Conclusion