slightly; the US will probably have accepted for resettlement about 890 refugees from Hong Kong in
the six months to the end of February, as against
1685 in the previous 12 months. I am optimistic
that some of these countries will in fact take more
refugees from Hong Kong than they have promised, and that there will be several more offers of places
from other countries.
Following the Home Affairs Committee's
recommendation that Hong Kong accept a proportion of
the ethnic Chinese in the open camps, Hong Kong (which has already absorbed 14,500 displaced
Indo-Chinese since 1975) has agreed to resettle up
to 250 ethnic Chinese refugees from amongst the
longest stayers. We have told other resettlement countries of this gesture, which is significant given the population pressures in Hong Kong and the difficulty for the Hong Kong Government of being seen to treat Vietnemese refugees better than illegal immigrants from China (who are normally returned to China upon being discovered, although they may have relatives in Hong Kong). We hope that it will prompt further help from them. As well as approaching other countries ourselves we are urging UNHCR to take similar action, as many countries consult regularly with the High Commissioner on the allocation of their refugee quotas. Tim Renton met Mr Hocke last month, and told him of our appreciation for his efforts to help the refugees in
Hong Kong.
/You refer