CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
Telephone 01-
Miss Jetta
Iiss Walken
(189
pa Resettlement
Your reference
BD Adams Esq
UKMIS
GENEVA
HKK 243/2
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
14 JUL 1983
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY Action Taken
Our reference
UNS 243/26
Date
5 July 1983
UNHCR:
RESCUES AT SEA
1.
I refer to Ray Kyles' further letter of 10 June about the new scheme for Rescue at Sea Resettlement Offers (RASRO). While SEAD continue to lead in specific cases of ship rescues of Indo-Chinese refugees, in this instance I have coordinated a view on the UNHCR memorandum.
2.
Having consulted departments and also the Hong Kong Government Office here, our view is that the RASRO proposal cuts across many established strands of existing UK policy on Vietnamese refugees and on ship rescues, policy which we shall not be able to alter in the near future. Hong Kong also has serious reservations about the scheme, The line to take in a written reply to UNHCR is that it is HMG's policy to accept close family reunion cases and those rescued by UK registered ships. While HMG have met their obligation to countries of first asylum in respect of ship rescues, we cannot see the way to enlarging our existing commitment. We agree with UNHCR's general aims for securing international cooperation to resolve this difficult refugee problem and can see some advantages in RASRO (see para.4 below). However we regret that we cannot participate in present circumstances.
3.
At your discretion, you may draw on the following points as necessary in subsequent discussion with UNHCR:
(i) Home Office policy is to accept only those Vietnamese refugees who can claim to be close family reunion cases or who have been rescued at sea by UK registered ships. HMG have met their obligations to give the country of first asvlum a guarantee of resettlement in these cases. (This year there have been four instances
of rescues by UK shipping, involving guarantees to 117 refugees) However, we are not prepared to add to this existing and unquantifiable commitment by including refugees rescued by vessels registered outside the United Kingdom.
CONFIDENTIAL
/(ii)