Mr Adams
H of Co/r
HKK 243/2.
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
2 5 AUG 1983
TAG118
(118)
DESK OFFICER INDEX
REGISTRY Action Taken
PA
аз
Anthare
inf.
243/2
eliberate xactiture!
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: HONOLULU MEETING
1.
When I lunched with Mr Smyser yesterday, he had just returned from the Honolulu meeting and that was our first topic of conversa- tion.
2. Mr Smyser summed up the meeting by saying that it had gone quite well and might even prove helpful. He clearly felt that the limited participation had been a pity. He said that Mr Douglas had told him that the UK had been invited and had chosen not to attend: I explained that the first real invitation had reached us about three days before the meeting, at which stage it was too late to attend, although there may have been some unremarked mention of it a few months previously. Mr Smyser said that there is likely to be a further meeting, probably with wider participation. There were, apparently, no firm offers of additional aid to settle the problem, other than the US stating the intention to increase their take (whether within their present quota or above it,
Mr Smyser was not clear). It had, however, been agreed that the problem must be settled as soon as possible and that resettlement was not the only way to do this.
He
3. I asked whether there had been discussion of the possibility of a new political approach and Mr Smyser said there had not. spoke of the High Commissioner's hesitation over any political action, not least because of the problem he foresaw of an unfavour- able reaction from the public in host countries if there was talk of a major programme of repatriation.
11 August 1983
Anne Warburton
Сери
to Mur Segar SEAD
Aur Peate UND
87"18.
ес
cc Miss Walke HKD
Exte (Handler)
Amizle
CONFIDENTIAL