CONFIDENTIAL
8 33% of Hong Kong's refugees have been there over 2 years. These
cases cause Hong Kong Government most anxiety. Their offtake would
greatly ease Hong Kong's burden while, hopefully, not attracting
significantly more arrivals.
WAYS FORWARD
9 Welcomed briefing by Purcell in Geneva on the Honolulu meeting.
Appreciate importance of resettlement states pursuing a ''mix of
policies11': cannot expect refugee flow to dry up; cannot expect resettlement states to ''sweep up' the whole backlog of cases (in
any case prospects of quick resettlement would draw more boat people
to the empty camps); cannot expect voluntary repatriations to Vietnam
in large numbers in the near future and should not press for
immediate resettlement in regional states. But grateful for US view
on how these could be combined to keep refugee populations under
control.
10 Further discussion among resettlement states at Geneva should
enable us to evaluate other Governments' reactions to UNHCR's paper,
see how and when ASEAN countries might be included in discussions on
alternatives to resettlement, look at timing agenda and level of any
follow-up to Honolulu.
BUT UK's OWN OPTIONS LIMITED
11 The internal pressures in the United Kingdom make it extremely
unlikely that the Government would agree to extending its existing
commitments on Vietnamese refugees.
12 We see no prospect of change in the family reunion criteria
applied to Vietnamese cases.
13 There is unlikely to be any prospect of a further quota for Vietnames
SOUTH EAST ASIAN DEPARTMENT
1 NOVEMBER 1983
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CONFIDENTIAL