FCOAHH

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG:

PRESENT POSITION ON SCORRI RECOMMENDATIONS

1.

Family reunion criteria should be relaxed in respect of

Vietname se in camps in countries of temporary asylum. Home Office responsibility.

(i)

Closed camps

should be abolished and their inmates

transferred to open camps.

H.0.

2.

HKD

(ii)

If the closed camps are not abolished, the FCO should

put on record immediately the circumstances in which it would withdraw its sanction from the closed camps policy.

We have drafted passage for inclusion in White Paper and cleared it with Hong Kong.

3. More should be done to prepare the inhabitants of Hong Kong's

refugee camps for life after they are resettled, especially through

training and upgrading of skills.

HKD | We have asked Hong Kong to prepare draft—

Но

И

SEAD

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received

4. A considerable degree of ministerial discretion should be

retained in the granting of family reunion applications. Home Office responsibility.

5.

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

Britain's willingness to relax its family reunion

criteria for Vietnamese in camp s in countries of

temporary asylum should be used as a bargaining counter

to attract offers of additional resettlement places from

other countries.

The aim of such negotiations should be to reduce

drastically the size of Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee

population and to resettle all those whose stay in camps

has been prolonged.

SEAD to draft, in consultation with us, once Home Office

decision is known.

If necessary, and as part of a burden-sharing agreement,

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