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details, will have no effect on breach of our obligations resulting
from (i).
4.
Closed camps have attracted surprisingly little Parliamentary or press criticism in UK. Recently however slightly more interest
as a result of:
(i) visits to Hong Kong in December 1983 by Lord Ennals, Chairman
of British Refugee Council (BRC) Asia Committee and Dr Martin
Barber, BRC Director. They called on Mr Luce on 11 January to
discuss Indo-Chinese refugee problems, including need for further UK
resettlement quota from Hong Kong (see para 7 below) and certain
aspects of closed camp policy, particularly overcrowding, enforced separation of husbands and wives and segregation of single men.
(ii) screening on 1 February of Channel 4 documentary film, 'The Camp on Lantau Island' (which Mr Luce watched). Surprisingly little press interest but two MPs, Christopher Chope and John Cope have already written to Mr Luce about the film at constituent's request.
Other MPs may do the same.
Resettlement
5.
Resettlement rates continue to be low, partly because main
resettlement countries, particularly US, consider majority of boat people now leaving Vietnam to be 'economic migrants' rather than
genuine refugees fleeing political persecution. (They tend now to
come from Northern and Central rather than Southern Vietnam and are
less likely to be ethnic Chinese or from professional or business
classes than were those who joined first exodus). Resettlement
countries also argue that Hong Kong is a UK responsibility and that
UK should therefore take the lead in providing more resettlement
places.
6.
In 1979 UK agreed to take 11,500 of Hong Kong's boat people.
Quota filled by last summer; total of Vietnamese resettled in UK,
including ship rescue and family reunion cases, is now 17,000. But
resettlement in UK not successful. Boat people have few historical or cultural ties with UK; few wish to come here. High unemployment
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