12. PARA E: THE PARAGRAPH SHOULD CONTINUE: THE HONG YONG GOVERNMENT
BELIEVES THAT NO LASTING SOLUTION WILL BE FOUND UNTIL THE FLOW OF
REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM IS STOPPED. UNTIL SOME MEANS IS FOUND TO DO
THIS, THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT MUST CONTINUE TO RELY ON THE SOLUTION AGREED AT THE 1979 GENEVA CONFERENCE CONVENED AT UK'S INITIATIVE, THAT REFUGEES SHOULD BE RESETTLED INTERNATIONALLY FROM COUNTRIES OF FIRST ASYLUM.
13. PARA 10: RESETTLEMENT QUOTAS FOR ALL INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES HAVE
DECLINED IN RECENT YEARS, BUT HONG KONG HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY
AFFECTED BY THIS DECLINE AS THE FOLLOWING FIGURES DEMONSTRATE.
YEAR
HONG KONG'S
PROPORTION
REGIONAL
RESETTLEMENT
HONG KONG
RESETTLEMENT
1981
112,300
17,800
16 PERCENT
1982
56,100
9,200
16 PERCENT
1983
49,400
4,200
9 PERCENT
1984
54,100
3,700
7 PERCENT
14. WE BELIEVE THAT THESE FIGURES ILLUSTRATE TWO THINGS:
THAT REGIONAL RESETTLEMENT IS BEING REDUCED BY THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY: AND THAT HONG KONG IS THE VICTIM OF DISCRIMINATION, WHETHER THIS BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE DISCRIMINATION. ACCORDINGLY, WE FEEL THAT PARAGRAPHS 10A, 108, 100 AND 100 SHOULD BE RE-ORDERED AND SLIGHTLY RE-CAST. ALMOST WITHOUT ALTERATION, PARA 10D SHOULD
BECOME PARA 10A AND, THEREFORE, LOGICALLY FOLLOW THE TABLE ABOVE.
PARAS 10A, 10B AND 100 SHOULD BECOME PARAS 108, 100 AND 190.
15. PARA 108: WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE THAT VIETNAMESE REFUGEES HAVE
ATYPICAL EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS EVERYWHERE. WE ACCEPT THAT
UK APPEARS TO HAVE A HIGH PROPORTION OF UNEMPLOYED REFUGEES (80
PERCENT), BUT AS YOU POINT OUT, 90 PERCENT OF THOSE IN OPEN CENTRES IN HONG KONG ARE EMPLOYED. DO YOU HAVE FIGURES FOR OTHER RESETTLEMENT
COUNTRIES? THE BO PERCENT FIGURE FOR UK MAY ITSELF BE UNREPRESENT-
ATIVE AND RESULT FROM LESS STRINGENT SELECTION CRITERIA.
16. PARA 100: SINCE AUGUST 1984 THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT
IMPROVEMENT IN THE INS REJECTION RATE: IT IS NOW DOWN TO
20 PERCENT.
17. PARA 11: WE DO NOT HAVE THE TABLES AND, IN DUE COURSE, WOULD
BE GRATEFUL FOR SIGHT OF THEM. HOWEVER, THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN SCEM
REASONABLE. WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD: IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY INITIAT I VE
FROM UK, THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT FEARS THAT IT WILL HAVE TO
ANTICIPATE THIS INCREASE.
3
CONFIDENTIAL
118