THE BRITISH REFUGEE COUNCIL
Chairman: SIR ARTHUR PETERSON, KCB, MVO.
Vice Chairmen:
SIR LESLIE KIRKLEY, CBE
KENNETH LEE
BONDWAY HOUSE, 3/9, BONDWAY, LONDON, SW8 1SJ.
Honorary Treasurers: A. H. CHAPMAN, FCA H. A. SHAW, OBE
Telephone: 01-582 6922
Cables: BREFCON, LONDON, SW8.
Director: MARTIN BARBER, Ph. D.
His Excellency The Honourable Donald C Jameson, P.C.,
Canadian High Commission
Macdonald House
Grosvenor Square
London WIX CAB ·
7 February 1985
Dear High Commissioner
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
The British Refugee Council, of whose Asia Committee I am Chairman, has been campaigning on behalf of Yhatnamese refugees In Hong Kong, both to improve the conditions in which they live and to urge the British Government to accept more Vietnamese refugees for resettlement in the United Kingdom than it is at present, The bulletin "Behind Barbed Wire", which is enclosed, will give you a more detailed notion of the lines we have been pursuing.
Informal cor tacts that I have made with represenaatives of your country in Hong Kong suggest that as a country that has already accepted a large number of Vietnamese refugees, you are reluctant to accept more refugees from Hong Kong whilst the British Government, whose area of responsibility it undoubtedly is, is presently taking so few.
It is oda belief, which we have stated to the Critish Government, that were the United Kingdon to take a lead in resettling Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong, many of whom have now been there for a considerable time, then other countries of resettlement, in including yours, would be more prepared to help share the burden.
We would be very interested to hear from you a statement of how the British Government's policy towards the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong affects your own. In particular, it would greatly help us, and consequently the refugees as well, if you were able to supply us with a written assurance that were the United Kingdom to increase the number of refugees it accepted for resettlement from Hong Kong, then your country would be more inclined also to accept greater numbers.
Yours sincerely
Lord Ennals
Chairman
Asia Committee
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