CONFIDENTIAL
3.
and
To maximise the effect of this decision, we are pressing other
countries as widely as possible also to take additional numbers of
refugees from Hong Kong. Posts in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, EC and other European countries have approached their
host governments, and we have raised the subject at bilateral multilateral meetings whenever opportunities have arisen in recent
Responses have been
Most countries have been
sympathetic to our request,
request, but it is too early yet to know how many will respond with concrete offers of resettlement places.
weeks.
mixed.
French position
4.
France
Hong Kong since
links with all
has accepted about 1,600 Vietnamese refugees from
1975. Not surprisingly, given France's historical
the Indo-Chinese countries, this is a small number
compared with France's total intake of Indo-Chinese refugees over
the same period (108,000). I t is nevertheless higher than the
number accepted from Hong Kong by most other European countries (exceeded only by the UK (12,300) and West Germany (2,400)). Since
January 1984, France has accepted 133 refugees from Hong Kong, more
than any other European country.
The existence of large,
long-established Indo-Chinese communities in France might facilitate
the absorption of additional numbers from Hong Kong.
5.
the
The initial French response to the approach made by
Embassy in Paris wa s rather discouraging. However they have now
undertak en to reexamine all the applications for resettlement in
France SO
far made by refugees in Hong Kong. They have said that family reunion cases and French speakers are the most likely to be
accepted.
There are about 135 refugees in these categories in
Hong Kong. They have also said they will consider taking
unaccompanied minors on humanitarian grounds. They have stressed
that the total number of refugees they will be able to accept from Hong Kong will be very small. We wish to keep in close touch with the French on this and would therefore be grateful if the PUS could
mention it to M. Ross.
CONFIDENTIAL