HED 2+3) 12
From the Private Secretary
CONFIDENTIAL
ET MON
10 DOWNING STREET
LONDON SW1A 2AA
Hang Kay Dept
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161
Ps/land Gemauttur Byll Eggar
21 December
Dear Stephen,
Sear
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PS/Pus hallmar Mudaren
SEAD face Deft
RESETTLEMENT OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
Thank you for your letter of 21 December covering the
text of a proposed speech by Mr. Eggar in the adjournment News Dept
debate tomorrow on Vietnamese boat people.
The Prime Minister is not prepared to see us go as far as proposed in the text, at least until we know:
that other governments are in practice prepared to take substantial additional numbers of Vietnamese refugees;
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Hall
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how we propose to ensure that the Vietnamese refugees who come to this country do not become an additional burden on housing in the London boroughs and other cities mentioned in the Secretary of State for the Environment's minute;
what additional resources may be necessary to provide for the refugees who come here, and who will find them.
Unless these points can be very rapidly resolved, this means that Mr. Eggar's remarks will have to be more conditional than in your draft. For example:
- paragraph 3 should read:
"We believe that the time has now come for a major international effort to tackle this residual problem. We are prepared in principle to contribute to that effort, by taking a further 1,000 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong over two to three years, provided that others are prepared to contribute commensurately. 1,000 would include .....
paragraph 4 should read:
The
"We shall do everything possible to ensure that additional refugees are resettled in a way that does not add to the very considerable pressure on housing resources in certain urban areas. My right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary will be
CONFIDENTIAL