GRS 500
CONFIDENTIAL
DESKBY 291400Z
HKK243/A
20.
54
CONFIDENTIAL
RESUVED WI
30MLR
FM HONG KONG 291050Z MARCH 82
TO - IMMEDIATE F C O
TELEGRAM NUMBER 292 OF 29 MARCH
INFO ROUTINE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON'
YOUR TELNO 2001 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES.
ANSWERS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
PA
10 Cae
CopiesGiven to Sir E. Youde
A. WE CAN OFFER NO MEANINGFUL BREAKDOWN OF THE HARD-CORE CASES BY CATEGORY, FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS
(1) REASONS ARE NOT ALWAYS GIVEN TO THE UNHCR BY THE REJECTING COUNTRY,
(2) MANY REFUGEES ARE REJECTED FOR SEVERAL REASONS.
(3) EARLIER DOCUMENTATION RECORDS E.G. IN 1979 ARE INCOMPLETE
AND UNRELIABLE.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REFUGEES REJECTED FOR THE US PROGRAMME AMOUNTS TO 4,337. THIS INCLUDES 535 WHO WERE INITIALLY ACCEPTED FOR THE USA BUT LATER REFUSED TO GO TO THE BATAAN RPC AND HAVE THEREFORE BEEN DENIED RESETTLEMENT IN THE U S. THE FIGURE ALSO INCLUDES 1,501 WHO WERE SUBSEQUENTLY OFFERED TO OTHER COUNTRIES AND WERE REFUSED RESETTLEMENT THERE TOO.
ALTHOUGH WE CANNOT GIVE BREAKDOWN OF REFUSALS BY CATEGORY WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE FOLLOWING ARE THE SORT OF REASONS GIVEN
(1) POLITICAL
(2) FAILED TO TURN UP FOR INTERVIEW
See (62
(64
3.
(3) STRONG FAMILY TIES WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
(4) REFUSED OFFERS OF RESETTLEMENT MADE BY OTHER COUNTRIES.
(5) CRIMINAL RECORDS
(6) SINGLE YOUNG PERSONS
(7) HANDICAPPED
(8) UNACCOMPANIED ELDERLY.
CONFIDENTIAL
/B.
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