CONFIDENTIAL
2
DSR 11C
Last
accept dependants for refugees on a family reunion basis
will
and consider all cases of those rescued by UK shipping.
A
But UK is not a favoured destination;
resettlement has not
been a success and in current circumstances we could not
take
agree to the additional refugees.
5. Other resettlement opportunities have also declined.
The US are now taking far fewer (?100 a month) from
Hong Kong and claim privately that many arrivals do not
qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention. If another
7,000+ reach there in this summer's S W Monsoon, numbers
could rise sharply from the present 12,500. When questioned
publicly in Hong Kong, officials have been careful not to
rule out the possibility of some form of repatriation.
about
We are now considering at the Governor's request the
possibility of approaching the Vietnamese on the
guarantees of non-reprisal so that from a certain date
the 'economic migrants' among the boat-people can be sifted
woul
out and returned to Hanoi.
News that we were
ing this
Word of these consideration
will be very sensitive for ASEAN memebrs who have been
pressed to treat all boat-people as refugees and refer them
to UNHCR for resettlement.