GINABU (2)
CONFIDENTIAL
MEETING OF BRITISH AND FRENCH CO-ORDINATORS, 9 MAY
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
ESSENTIAL FACTS
GENERAL
1.
8,700 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong awaiting
resettlement; the largest number of any place of first asylum in South East Asia. They are spending increasingly
long periods in Hong Kong because of diminishing
prospects: 638 have been there more than 3
resettlement
years.
RECENT ACTION BY HMG
2.
The Government announced in September:
(i) that HMG will accept for resettlement some 500 refugees, mostly from Hong Kong, who have relatives in the UK but who would normally
fall outside the Home Office's criteria for
family reunion cases;
to
(ii) that, depending on the willingness shown by
other resettlement countries to respond to
Hong Kong's needs, HMG are consider accepting further limited numbers
from Hong Kong.
would also be prepared to
prepared
The Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Government
numbers from the camps.
absorb limited
(Hong Kong has
agreed to absorb up to 250 more refugees.)
CONFIDENTIAL