J Page Esą
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
Voluntary Services Unit
Room 1378
Home Office
Queen Anne's Gate LONDON
Dear Mr. Page,
Telephone 01-233 5073
HKK 243/1
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23 JUN 1985.
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243/17/48-16
27 June 1983
COMMONS ADJOURNMENT ON THE PROBLEMS FACING VIETNAMESE REFUGEES : 29 JUNE (MR KEITH BEST MP)
1 We spoke this morning, Below are some supplementaries we believe Ministers would find it useful to have to hand for this debate:-
2 Refugees in Hong Kong
Sympathy with Hong Kong's continuing refugee burden, Numbers again increasing (12,600) as opportunities for resettlement diminish, All should be grateful for the continuing contribution to this major humanitarian problem made by Hong Kong which has since 1975 also absorved 14,000 Vietnamese into its own community.
3 Closed Camps
Hong Kong's closed centres are a temporary measure forced on the Hong Kong Government by events, For refugees arriving in Hong Kong, prospects for resettlement are now extremely poor, Diminished prospects for resettlement have also placed overcrowded Hong Kong, which has an outstanding record both as a place of first asylum and for absorbing refugees into its own community, in an unenviable position. As a temporary and regrettable necessity in these unique circumstances they are well run with the full cooperation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who also helps to fund the centres,
[If Pressed] One purpose of the closed centres is to avoid encouraging further arrivals. The centres do not fully accord with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which has been extended to Hong Kong,
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