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United Kingdom Mission
37-39 rue de Vermont 1211 Geneva 20
Telex 22956
Telegrams Prodrome Geneva
Telephone 34 38 00 33 23 85
HKKC 243/8
RECEN REGISTRY
27 JUN 1986
2 tatt A. We resettleme!
INDE
29 May 1986
in Vita!!!
Your reference
D J Barton Esq Hong Kong Dept
FCO
Rel
RAPA
Our reference
UN 243/1
Date
Lear David,
D
12
1
Lever
VR Reselt. in Vik
\ Repatriation
Hinn 2437
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
19 JUN 1986
DEPARTURE
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG AND THE ORDERLYNDEX
PROGRAMME (ODP), VIETNAM
FA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
Mr Issaka, Head of UNHCR's Resettlement Section, called on 27 May to discuss his visit to Hong Kong, Thailand and Philippines in early May.
1.
not deps.
SUMMARY
2.
Mr Issaka asked if the British government could consider accepting a further 500 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong camps. UNHCR are exploring local integration and voluntary repatriation options further for Indo-Chinese refugees and seek donor government help through dialogue with local governments on refugee issues, especially the ODP.
this year
DETAIL
3.
Mr Issaka reminded us that, while departures from Vietnam remained constant, arrivals in Hong Kong had increased by over 60% over the last year and contained more North Vietnamese than in the past. He asked if the British Government would, at the October 1986 EXCOM, offer to accept a further 500 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong. He stressed the reinforced "multiplier" effect this would have on other resettlement countries, particularly those who may already be thinking of offering further places in 1987. I told him I would refer his request to London but could make no promises.
4.
We discussed the South-East Asian refugee problem in general, with particular reference to Hong Kong. I asked Mr Issaka if he had any idea why a higher percentage of refugees were now arriving in Hong Kong: did this mean that the closed camps were not a real deterrent? Mr Issaka said that UNHCR staff interview refugees on arrival and that most refugees say they had not heard of Hong Kong's policies (vis-à-vis closed camps or the latest local integration announcement) before they left Vietnam: their arrival in Hong Kong was purely coincidental. Mr Issaka, personally, did not believe this and considered that, to a Vietnamese leaving Vietnam for political/economic reasons, even four or five years in a closed camp (with an eventual possibility of resettlement) would be preferable to the situation left behind in Vietnam. The problem as he saw it, was the "pull factor":
/the
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