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CONFIDENTIAL
MR
LUCE'S VISIT TO GENEVA:
11-12 MARCH
1985: DISCUSSIONS WITH
UNHCR
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
BACKGROUND
General
1.
11,700 Vietnamese
resettlement.
Just
refugees
currently
over half (5924)
in
arrivals totalled 2230 (39% less than 1983,
decline of only 11%). 3694 we re resettled
1984
in Hong Kong awaiting
closed centres.
compared with regional outside Hong Kong, of
which 1541 went to the US, 1008 to Canada, 736
736 to Australia and 88
to the UK.
Recent Ministerial contact with UNHCR
2.
Mr
Raison
me t
Mr Moussalli
(Director for International
Protection) and Anvar (then Chief
(then Chief of the South and East Asia Section
of UNHCR) in March 1984 in Geneva (Geneva telno 154).
Resettlement
3.
occasions expressed concern
at
UNHCR officials have on several
the UK's refusal to take more refugees, and have emphasised difficulty of persuading other countries to take more from Hong Kong
in the absence of a lead from UK.
Repatriation
4.
Background to this subject is contained in paragraphs 16-19 and 25(a) of the attached policy paper, a copy of which has been already
submitted separately to Mr Luce.
recommendations
based
5. We shall shortly be submitting to Mr Luce
on the options described in the paper. The recommendations will need to be discussed between departments here, but one may be that
HMA Hanoi should be instructed to approach the Vietnamese to discuss
the possibility of involuntary repatriation on an exploratory,
non-committal basis. Ideally, we should have preferred UNHCR to
take this initiative. However they are unlikely to be willing to do
although we asked Mr Hartling to raise the subject of
SO:
CONFIDENTIAL