Recommendation 6:
The FCO should make resolution of Hong Kong's Vietnamese
refugee problem a major priority in its dealings with foreign governments.
1. As the Committee have already
already been
been assured, the FCO will
accord a high priority to finding a solution to this problem. It
is prepared to devote great effort to its diplomatic offensive to
persuade other countries to accept for resettlement more
Vietname se refugees from Hong Kong, and thus to maximise the
effect of HMG's own commitment.
Luce told the
Sub-Committee, the objective of the FCO must be to try to obtain
As Mr
It is to be hoped that
a durable solution as fast as possible.
the refugee problem in Hong Kong will be solved well before 1997.
The need for urgent action is underlined by the increasingly long
periods that the refugees are having to spend in the camps.
Besides the hopelessness and frustration that this engenders
among the refugees themselves, we recognise that it may also
increase their problems of integration when they are eventually
resettled. Moreover, as the FCO's memorandum of evidence to the
Committee explained (Ev., p129), the Chinese population in
Hong Kong i s increasingly resentful of the special treatment
accorded to Vietnamese refugees. For these reasons HMG are
determined to take swift steps to attempt to persuade countries to accept further refugees.
other
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