COLAOJ
CONFIDENTIAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON: 29 JUNE-2 JULY
Background
General
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
1.
8,500 Vietnamese boat refugees are 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 resettlement prospects: 648 have been there more than 3 years. Hong Kong's rate of resettlement is the lowest of any place of first asylum in the region.
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
to
(ii) that, depending on the willingness shown by
other resettlement countries to respond
Hong Kong's needs, HMG consider accepting further limited numbers
from Hong Kong.
are prepared
The Hong
Kong Government
absorb limited
(Hong
Kong
is
would also be prepared to
numbers from the camps.
now absorbing up to 250 more refugees.)
CONFIDENTIAL