1
re gees: their future lies in Vietnam. The rest, some
15,500, arrived before the introduction of screening and
await resettlement as refugees.
It is the largest
population of refugee boat people in the region.
will mean that
be-our-policy of Screening very few indeed are being
added to their number.
But the current rate of reduction
rate of reduction through
resettlement (25.00 in the past 12 months) is
unacceptably slow. Even if that level of commitment is
sustained it will take a further 6 years before all
15,500 have been resettled.
And over time governments
who do not have our own direct responsibility for Hong
Kong willtend to let the territory's needs slip down their
list of priorities.
3. In May 1987 the Home Secretary announced a
commitment to resettle 468 named refugees from Hong Kong
over 2 years, at a rate of about 20 per month. Since
then the number of boat people in Hong Kong has trebled
and the rate of intake from the major resettlement
countries has declined.
4.
Our record of resettlement of Indo-Chinese refugees
since 1979 is an honourable one. Our performance on
resettlement from Hong Kong is particularly creditable.
we believe
But the But the dramatic increase in Hong Kong's refugee
population calls for a new initiative, consistent with
the efforts we have made in the past. te stimulating
substantial new commitments from others.
We think this is mozessary,
Support
of the Hong Kong government, as a humanitarian response to an otherwise intractable problem
and in the hope of