I
Frepared to allow any refugees who had not been resettled Prepared
form the Philippines 'within a reasonable period' to come
to a UNHCR camp in Hong Kong 'to continue to pursue their
resettlement opportunities'. Neither Embassy Manila nor
trome UNHCR there were keen on setting a three months limit, and in
the end the Philippine authorities accepted both the Hong
Kong offer and the formula 'within a reasonable period of
time'. The UNHCR officer in Manila wrote to our Embassy in
(ie. nearly this year (ater)
A
March this year to say that 15 of the refugees were still at
A
the camp at Palawan with no offers of resettlement, and could
they be taken by Hong Kong or UK?
abso
owned UKC registerd
4.
The M.V. Poyang, Hong Kong-registered, arrived at Hong Kong
on 2 July last year with 42 rescued refugees.
UNHCR registered
them straight away submitting 2 to Canada, 10 to USA for
resettlement, and asking Hong Kong to request us to take the
other 30. At the time we refused to accept them.
refugees rescued by boat were being counted against our
Although
as yet unfilled quota of 10,000 from Hong Kong, we considered
they should for the moment be left to take the same chances
for selection in the UK quota as any other refugee in
Hong Kong. The position does not seem to have been firmly
established with Hong Kong, though the 30 residual refugees
from the Po Yang stayed there, the quota has now been filled,
and in May, Hong Kong wrote again to say that 27 now
remain and could these be accepted for settlement in UK?
5. Since all possibility of resettling these 42 appears
exhausted, Hong Kong see the choice as lying between
settlement there and reception in UK. These are very
stong arguments against expecting Hong Kong to take them, and
2
/I