Х
PT Arkwright Esq
HKD
FCO
RESTRICTED
BRITISH EMBASSY
г)
B
1) her footman2 2) Miss Slatter 35 3) pa VR/3 country
35, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré - 75383 Paris Cedex 08
Telephone: 42 66 91 42
MUD 243/2 243/2
RECE VER REGISTRY
DeN Paul,
- 9 FEB 1988
OFFICER
PA
15 Taken
noted
Your reference
Our reference
Date
R [BUI May
to Ms Slater.
N
X
typical french
5 February 1988
gw Bu again 9/2
1/623 May
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
attitude
Y = kir (French
10
elections
are
in April)
PTA
ok
1. Thank you for your helpful letter of 22 January (not copied to other recipients) with a copy of Hong Kong telno 52 to FCO. We were also grateful to Hong Kong for repeating to us their telno 234
2.
On 1 February called with Sarah Wu (HKGO, Brussels) on Mme Patricia Mauroy, Head of the Quai Refugees Division.
(Richard de Warren's successor has not inherited his brief and co-ordinating role for refugee matters.) We thanked the French for their help in 1987 and urged fresh efforts in the current year. We pointed out diplomatically the comparisons between France's 1987 assistance and that received from not only Canada and Australia but also small European countries like Luxembourg, Belgium and Finland. We pointed out that the recent trends for arrivals and departures were disturbing. we emphasised the special characteristics of the problem in Hong Kong, including the high proportion of refugees who had already spent years in the camps.
3.
Mme Mauroy promised to consider and report our approach. She said, however, that France did not operate by quotas but by admitting refugees who met its standard criteria. The criteria for Vietnamese in Hong Kong were interpreted quite liberally. But she took our point that even a small extra intake by France could have a knock-on effect with other countries.
4.
And
Mme Mauroy was thus non-committal but mildly encouraging. This contrasted with an earlier call Stewart Webb-Johnson and we made on Claude Blanchemaison, Head of Far Eastern Department. He recalled being with Bariani when he visited Hong Kong camps and told Ecoles Sans Frontières teachers that there was absolutely no chance of France's admitting the refugees they were training and that they should instead try other French- speaking countries.
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/5.