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Dr Reilly, SEAD
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
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On 27 April I attended a meeting at the Home Office chaired by Mr Renton, between representatives of the British Refugee Council led by Lord Chitnis and officials from Government departments dealing with refugees in the UK. The agenda was devoted entirely to domestic issues such as social security. education and housing. There was no mention of ODP or of refugee quotas from Hong Kong.
2.
You might be interested in the following points on the problems of Vietnamese refugees in Britain. There was general agreement that the original plan to disperse Vietnamese refugees round the country to towns where housing was available was flawed. This had led to widespread migration mainly to London and Birmingham. For example, 3,000 Vietnamese had been originally settled in London, but as many as 8 to 9,000 had moved to London from areas. More than half the 21,000 Vietnamese in the UK were now living in London, often in very poor housing conditions.
other
3. The meeting agreed that the Vietnamese had not settled well in Britain. Their problems included the different culture and language and the fact that many of their skills and qualifications were not recognised in the UK. Many had found themselves in the poverty trap: if they found work could only expect to earn less than or as much as supplementary benefit. Moreover, they found it difficult to gain access to education to improve their chances for employment The new Employment Training Programme contained a language provision and would provide a better incentive to Vietnamese.
4.
Mr Renton said that Home Office funding for grant aid for refugees from Vietnam was a bridging programme and there could be no commitment for further finance after 1989. He also commented that the poor settlement record of Vietnamese in the UK played a part in Home Office decisions on further commitments for taking refugees from Hong Kong.
5. Such meetings will probably take place again. Lord Chitnis said that it demonstrated the need for a body with cross departmental responsibility for refugee issues.
Peter Millet
P J MILLETT
United Nations Department
K 155
270-2490
CODE 18-77
29 April 1988
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