HKO
720A
CC
FCS/88/136
CONFIDENTIAL
HKD 243/12
REGISTA
19 JUL 1988
HOME SECRETARY
OFFICER
PA
IBTHY
13 T
ps) Mr Eggar
Mr Grill More
Mr Colin SCAD
Mr Willians UND
18/7
N817
Mr Foorman
The ball is now
in the Home Nlice cout
buk
we must
quickly
Vietnamese Boat People in Hong Kong
follow up
With
1. At our meeting on 22 June I left with you a piece of paper setting out a proposal for a new resettlement commitment by the UK to take in 1,000 Vietnamese refugees in various categories over 3 years. You kindly undertook to consider this.
2.
We also agreed that my officials would do some further work, with a view to strengthening the case for a new commitment. In particular we would try to assess the deterrent effect of Hong Kong's new palicy; and we would elaborate on why we thought that a new commitment of 1,000 would be sufficient to generate a significant response from others. We also subsequently undertook to find out more about measures being taken in the camps to equip candidates
for resettlement for a new life in the West.
3. Hong Kong's new policy has been in force for one month. Since its introduction, the rate of arrivals has continued at a very high rate: about 4,000 more boat people have landed in Hong Kong since 16 June. This is disappointing, but not unexpected. Many of these arrivals will have set off before the new policy was announced or before the news filtered through; and rumours of the imminent introduction
of a tougher policy may have prompted a surge of departures in an attempt to get in before the change. I must therefore
er.
CONFIDENTIAL