CONFIDENTIAL
་
be understood and indeed welcomed - in Hong Kong. I would hope that you can agree to avoid a hiatus by allowing the present programme to run on for the necessary period and permitting a continuation of the identification and resettlement of family reunion cases from Hong Kong, if necessary by interpreting generously the terms of our earlier resettlement decision. So long as a visible programme is maintained in this relatively short period, the numbers actually admitted for settlement need not be
great.
3. After David's return I would welcome an opportunity to discuss with you where we go from here. If our current Hong Kong offtake were to cease altogether now, we shall have difficulties both with Hong Kong and other
resettlement countries. There could be a disproportionate effect on the overall refugee resettlement programme from
Hong Kong.
4.
We need to bear in mind the additional commitment we
made to the Home Affairs Committee's Sub-Committee on Race
Relations and Immigration (SCORRI) to "consider accepting in addition to the family reunion cases, further limited numbers of Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong". Our reply
to SCORRI indicated that such a decision would be taken "in the light of the willingness shown by other resettlement countries to respond to Hong Kong's needs and of all the other circumstances at the time". The responses of other countries to date and the continuing burden of the camp population upon Hong Kong's resources in my view warrant our initiating a further and continuing offtake from Hong Kong under this commitment as soon as our current "family reunion" offtake from Hong Kong ceases. I do not think that such a commitment need involve large numbers: indeed in overall immigration terms
/it
CONFIDENTIAL