SECRET
то
?
UK Policy on Resettlement
9.
-
-
including
have been
Following the Geneva Conference on Refugees in 1979 HMG
announced that they would accept 10,000 boat people from Hong Kong
for resettlement in the UK. To date over 16,000
dependants and those rescued by British shipping accepted here. The UK also continues to accept ship rescue
and close family reunion cases and others to whom it is committed
is under the Orderly Departure Programme (ODP). The ODP an arrangement whereby the UNHCR process applications from people
wishing to leave Vietnam for third countries). However resettlement
in the UK has not been particularly successful. Moreover the Home
Office is under constant pressure to resettle refugees from
elsewhere (eg Poland, Iran). Mr Pym wrote to Mr Whitelaw in
February to ask if anything can be done to alleviate HongKong's position. Mr Whitelaw replied that he could not agree to any
further concessions.
Repatriation
10.
During Lord Belstead's visit to Hong Kong in December 1982 he
was asked by the Hong Kong Government to investigate the possibility
of involuntary repatriation to Vietnam of newly arriving boat
people, many of whom they believe to be economic migrants rather than genuine refugees. This idea was carefully considered by FCO Ministers, but rejected: we were unlikely to get any satisfactory
assurances from the Vietnamese that those returned would not be mistreated instructed, and making an approach to a regime with such a poor
human rights record would leave HMG open to criticism.
Future Prospects
11.
We have been exploring the possibility of a multilateral
approach to the Vietnamese Government, which would aim to persuade them to give more prominence to the Orderly Departure Programme, and
thereby to stop the outflow of refugees from Vietnam.
The response by other Governments has been lukewarm.
- 4
-