CONFIDENTIAL
4. The principal resettlement countries are letting Hong Kong slip down their list of priorities even though
it has the largest population of boat people in the
region. In our contacts with them these countries - in
particular the US, Canada and Australia (who between them
have taken some 90,000 refugees from Hong Kong over the
years) have made it clear that they look to us, as the country with direct responsibility for Hong Kong, to take a lead. Without going as far as to give us guarantees as to how they would respond to an initiative from us (and
we could not expect this), representatives of these countries has given us reason to believe that their own resettlement programmes from Hong Kong might nonetheless be increased if we were to make a move that they
considered to be commensurate with the scale of the
problem and with our special responsibility for
Hong Kong.
5.
We also face substantial pressure from public opinion in Hong Kong, where the burden of this 13 year old
problem is considerable (we have recently received a
letter from Lydia Dunn on behalf of all Executive and
Legislative Councillors which has gone to all members of
both Houses of Parliament, a great many of whom have now written to the Foreign Office asking what we are doing to deal with the matter). We have been reluctant to make a further commitment until now, principally because of the continuing flow of refugees into Hong Kong and the
possible pull-factor of such a move. Now, however,
following the introduction of screening and the
consequent delimitation of the scope of the problem, we judge that the time is right.
CONFIDENTIAL