EX-CHINA REFUGEES:
4.
There are still some 2,700 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong
who had been settled in China and entered Hong Kong illegally.
Several thousand earlier ex-China cases have already been
returned to China and discussion over the remainder continues
with the Chinese authorities.
HM GOVERNMENT'S ROLE:
5.
Since My Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister called
for the Geneva Conference in 1979, more than 70,000 Vietnamese
refugees have been resettled from Hong Kong. About 11,000
have come to the UK including 1,000 under a quota announced
by the previous administration.
BOAT RESCUES:
6. It is our view that refugees rescued at sea should be
landed at the first port of call without a guarantee of
resettlement from the flag state.
When local circumstances
do not permit this, we will look at each case individually which
arises from rescue by a British ship.
THE THREE VIETNAMESE BOYS:
7. We have agreed that these three boys should be allowed to
settle here on exceptional humanitarian grounds.
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/THE