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PH Brook Esq HM Treasury Parliament Street
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18 November 1988
181
MED 263/12
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VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
I am replying to your letter of 10 November to John Hayzelden since your questions are primarily about policy objectives.
Your letter raises a number of points about the joint minute to the Prime Minister. Whilst we agree that we and the FCO should properly have included some attempt at resource quantification in the joint minute and your comments are helpful in that regard I should perhaps make two points about the proposals:-
a)
b)
they relate to FCO policy the cost of which will fall on home departments generally including the Home Office, and,
As you
it is a moot point whether this is a new policy proposal or continuation of previous policy. will have gathered from our letter of 8 November we and FCO regard it more the latter than the former.
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Work on this matter has now reached a very advanced stage. Both Mr Renton and the Home Secretary as well as the Foreign Secretary have agreed the contents of the joint minute subject only to inclusion of further amendments in the light of our discussions with you.
The situation in FCO terms is such that the Foreign | This Secretary is pressing for this matter to go to the PM urgently. We have therefore revised the joint minute to bring out more clearly the FCO objectives for this policy and the resource implications for the Home Office.
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