THE BRITISH REFUGEE COUNCIL
Vice Chairmen:
Chairman: SIR ARTHUR PETERSON, KCB. MVO.
SIR LESLIE KIRKLEY, CBE
KENNETH LEE
Honorary Treasurers: A. H. CHAPMAN, FCA H. A. SHAW, OBE
BONDWAY HOUSE, 3/9, BONDWAY, LONDON, SW8 15J.
Telephone: 01-582 6922
Cables: BREFCON, LONDON, SW8.
Director: MARTIN BARBER, Ph. D.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
18 April 1985
MP: SAY "ABOLISH CLOSED CAMPS IN HONG KONG"
RADICAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN BRITAIN NEEDED
INTOLERABLE DELAYS ON ASYLUM APPLICATIONS
The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee proposes radical improvements
in Government policy towards Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong and in
Britain and towards individuals seeking asylum in Britain in a report* released today.
The British Refugee Council (BRC) warmly welcomes the Report and will be
pressing the Government to accept and implement the recommendations as
quickly as possible.
VITISHESE IN HONG KONG
The Committee endorses the BRC's condemnation of the prison-like conditions
in which Vietnamese refugees are held in Hong Kong's closed camps and urges
their release into open camps. "Unless the situation changes, there will shortly be children of school age who have spent their entire lives in glosed
camps", states the report.
The Committee recommends more generous criteria for admission of people in
refugee camps who have relatives already here. The refugee agencies have
already resubmitted some family reunion applications from Vietnamese which
have been rejected by the Home Office. "In the light of the Committee's recommendations, we trust there will be no delay in approving these cases
and the others that are being prepared for submission", hopes Martin Barber,
Director of the ERC.
cont'd
TTACTS:
* Third Report: Refugees and Asylum, with Special Reference to the Vietnamese
Catriona Renton, BRC Press Tel: 01-582 3969. Martin Barber, BRC Director, 582 6922
Graene Jackson, BRC Viet. Information, Tel: 582 6922
Julia Meiklejohn, Fefuree lation Dineston, Dal: 745 2470 en 703 5400
Laureen Connelly, IIAE, Fel: 372 7962
Registered under the Charities Act 1960 No 283993
The British Refugee Council incorporates the British Council for Aid to Refugees and the Standing Conference on Refugees
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