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VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
BACKGROUND
CONFIDENTIAL
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1. Background to Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee problem is contained in the attached policy paper, which was submitted to Ministers in April. (An earlier draft of the paper was cleared with the Hong Kong Government).
2. There are two issues on which the Hong Kong Government are
seeking action by HMG:
(a) RESETTLEMENT
It is a source of great concern in Hong Kong that the UK now accepts
very few Vietnamese refugees from the territory for resettlement
(only 88 in 1984 and 4 so far in 1985). Moreover there is
increasing evidence that other resettlement countries will be unwilling to increase their quotas if the UK does not provide a lead
by accepting more. The Home Affairs Sub-Committee on Race Relations and Immigration (SCORRI), in their report published in April,
recommended that the Home Office's family reunion criteria should be
relaxed in respect of Vietnamese in camps in countries of temporary
asylum, and that this should be used as a bargaining counter to
attract offers of additional resettlement places from other
countries. About 500 refugees from camps in Hong Kong would qualify
for entry to the UK if this recommendation were implemented. The Secretary of State wrote to the Home Secretary on 20 May supporting the recommendation on family reunion but pointing out that in our view a one-off gesture of this kind would not be sufficient on a long term basis to persuade other countries to take larger numbers from Hong Kong: a figure of the order of 500 a year would be necessary to achieve this. The Home Secretary has not yet replied.
seems likely that he will agree to accept the 500 recommended by SCORRI, but that he will be reluctant to commit the Home Office to
accepting an annual quota.
(Note: Hong Kong have been informed of the Secretary of State's approach to the Home Secretary, but we have asked the Governor not to reveal to EXCO the precise figure that has been propose).
CONFIDENTIAL