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discussions with the Home Office
33.
We need to initiate
to initiate
on the
issues involved as
1
Home Office
letter to the
soon.
soon as possible. My draft
proposes that officials meet
If, as is likely, Home Office officials respond
negatively, an approach at Ministerial level will be
needed. We may in the end have no option but to take
proposal for a new UK offtake to H Committee.
34. In the light of our exchanges with the Home Office at
official level I will submit to Ministers as early as
possible any recommendations for further action.
Cotta
8 July 1986
CO Hum
Hong Kong Department
1. I fear this submission is very lengthy. It boils down
to the fact that:
2.
i) the refugee inflow to Hong Kong will not simply cease: indeed it shows signs of growing;
ii)
resettlement has had a temporary boost as a result of our own (small) increase and the
diplomatic effort we were able to mount on the back
of it; but "compassion fatigue" will get worse. There are already signs that American resettlement from Hong Kong next year will be considerably less than for the current period.
and UWHER
There are no easy options. Somehow we must find ways of stemming the outflow from Vietnam. Involuntary repatriation is highly unattractive (and was considered by Ministers last
year to be politically unacceptable). But we must, I think, get together now with other countries to see whether a distinction can be made between genuine refugees and economic migrants. We shall then have to seek ways of either ensuring
that the latter group do not leave Vietnam or that they are
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