BACKGROUND
CONFIDENTIAL
Our policy is to accept the general view that boat-people should
be treated as refugees and to support the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees' leading role in supervising their asylum
in countries of the region and promoting their eventual resettlement
elsewhere. At the Conference on boat refugees in 1979 it was
agreed that regional states would provide first asylum and not be
expected to provide permanent homes for the refugees who would
eventually be resettled elsewhere. Although there are serious
problems thrown up by the continuing, if much diminished, outflow
of boat-people this general arrangement for the moment remains in
place and is the basis for our current policy.
But resettlement countries are now rejecting many boat-people as
having been driven by economic rather than political motives.
Resettlement opportunities are thus diminishing. For this reason
consideration is still being given to Hong Kong's recommendation that
we explore the possibility of arranging the repatriation to Vietnam
of future arrivals of boat-people in the territory.
Repatriation
would, of course, only be considered if the Vietnamese Government
offered satisfactory assurances concerning the treatment of any
repatriates.
CONFIDENTIAL