BY BAG
CONFIDENTIAL
布政司署
香港下亞畢道
* OUR REF.: CR 3/4821/52
* YOUR Ref.:
Redtome
12A
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
AKK 34112
D
RECEIVE AN REGISTRY NO. 51
13 APR 1981
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
REGISTRY
Action Taken
March 1981
DR Snoxell Esq UKMIS GENEVA
PA
tho
2141
나
AW 14/0
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM CHINA IN DETENTION IN HONG KONG
10
Thank you for sending me a copy of your minute on this subject of 19 March. It is a great relief that this has ceased to be an issue between us and UNHCR.
2.
I admire the way in which Casella presented the UNHCR position in its historical context. While I agree with you and him that there is no point in going over past history I think it is right to put on record the view here that it is largely because of the position Hong Kong has taken that UNHCR are now devoting sufficient effort and resources to family reunification direct from China.
3.
I agree that paragraph 1 of our telno 85 to Peking did not present a full picture of UNHCR's position. However, this was not meant to convey a distorted impression: we were, after all, concentrating on the problem area refugees settled in China who then came on to Hong Kong to pursue possibilities of family reunification.
→
9
4.
We should also like to put on record the fact that in many cases UNHCR were arguing against return to China for refugees purely on the basis of the family relationships overseas claimed by the refugees themselves. Generally they did not seek corroborating evidence either from their own offices elsewhere or from consulates in Hong Kong. It is a fair point that they lack the resources to do this. Nevertheless, this means that a very high proportion of refugees whom we released to UNHCR have remained in Hong Kong for many months before being able to be resettled. It is also a factor influencing our approach here that the resettlement places made available for refugees exempted from return to China were taken out of existing quotas for refugees in Hong Kong, thus imposing a longer wait for resettlement on refugees who came here directly from Vietnam.
CONFIDENTIAL
/5.