E.R.
the refugees are settled. In this resettlement stage there is
again a need for a constructive partnership, this time between local government and the voluntary sector.
Given this substantial degree of interdependence it is all the more
appropriate to use this occasion to examine in a critical
-
as well as a congratulatory sense - how the Vietnamese refugee
programme is now proceeding.
Progress with Vietnamese refurce programme
First, how are we coping with the numbers involved? It is not
generally realised that in 1970 about 5,000 Vietnamese came to
this country. Many of these came from the boat rescues by the
"Sibonga" and the "Roachbank" and from the quota of 1,500 agroed
to by the last Government; 2,000, however, came from the 10,000
quota which we agreed at the Genova Conference. In the first
three months of this year, I gather that the arrivals from ·
Hong Kong seen likely to total comething over 1,000. As at the
end of Harch, therefore, there will be about 3,500 refugees, still
to come.
I want to emphasise that the Government would like to
see these refugees brought to this country just as soon as it ic practicable to do so with the present reception centro
/accommodation at