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MDHOAN 1521
RESTRICTED
FM FCO
TO FLASH HONG KONG
TELNO 3284
OF 22114OZ DECEMBER 88
AND TO IMMEDIATE WASHINGTON, CANBERRA, OTTAWA, WELLINGTON
AND TO IMMEDIATE UKMIS GENEVA, BANGKOK, KUALA LUMPUR, JAKARTA AND TO IMMEDIATE MANILA, SINGAPORE, BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, PEKING AND TO IMMEDIATE EC POSTS
INFO PRIORITY HANOI
MIPT:
1.
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE:
FURTHER RESETTLEMENT
NEWS DEPARTMENT WILL BE TAKING THE FOLLOWING UNATTRIBUTABLE
LINE IN REPLY TO ANY QUESTIONS ON THE RATE OF RESETTLEMENT IMPLIED BY MR EGGAR'S STATEMENT:
BEGINS:
WHAT WILL THE RATE OF RESETTLEMENT BE UNDER THE NEW
PROGRAMME?
Q.
A.
WE ENVISAGE THAT THE NEW PROGRAMME WOULD BE STARTED AS SOON
AS THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS ARE MET. AT FIRST IT WOULD RUN IN PARALLEL WITH THE EXISTING FAMILY REUNION PROGRAMME (DUE TO CONTINUE UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF 1989). THE MONTHLY RATE OF RESETTLEMENT WOULD GO UP FROM 20 TO 40 AS SOON AS THE NEW PROGRAMME WAS INTRODUCED. (SQUARE BRACKETS BEGIN) IF NECESSARY (SQUARE BRACKETS END) BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE STARTING DATE AND THE CONTINUATION OF RESETTLEMENT UNDER THE OLD PROGRAMME WE CANNOT BE CERTAIN HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE TO RESETTLE THE NEW 1,000. HENCE THE ESTIMATE OF 2-3 YEARS. ENDS
HOWE
YYYY
MAIN
91
DISTRIBUTION
96
.VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HK
LIMITED
HKD
NEWS
PS
PS/LORD GLENARTHUR
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