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Hong Kong, to EC and other Europe an countries, and also to
potential resettlement countries in the Commonwealth. On a
multilateral basis, HMG is very ready to accept UNHCR's offer to
use their services to secure additional contributions from other
countries.
3.
HMG and the HKG share the Committee's desire to see the
number of long-stayers in Hong Kong reduced. Many of these
refugees have been rejected for resettlement on more than one
occasion, and it is not easy
to persuade resettlement countries to look again at their cases. However we shall continue to try
to persuade other countries
to include long-stayers among the
numbers they accept.
1.
Recommendation 6:
Vietnamese
The FCO should make resolution of Hong Kong's
refugee problem a major priority in its dealings with
foreign governments.
As the Committee have already been assured, the FCO will
accord a high priority to finding a solution to this problem. I t is prepared to devote great effort to its diplomatic offensive to
persuade other countries to accept for resettlement more
refugees from Hong Kong, and thus to maximise the
effect of HMG's own commitment.
Luce told the
Sub-Committee, the
to try to obtain
It i s to be hoped that
Vietnamese
As Mr
objective of the FCO must be to try to
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
the special treatment
the se
Hong Kong i s increasingly resentful of
accorded to Vietnamese refugees. For
determined to take swift steps countries to
to accept further refugees.
to attempt
reasons HMG are
to persuade other
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