ROFABU (4)
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
CONFIDENTIAL
Background
There are now some 26,000 Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong,
of whom some 10,000 await screening. Of those screened, 878 have
been screened out and 75 screened in as refugees.
1.
Resettlement
2.
The Prime Minister has agreed that we should now confirm our
offer to take 1,000 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong over the next
two to three years. The way is now clear to make an announcement
following the Governor's call on the Prime Minister on 22 February.
We have secured commitments from other countries to resettle up to
4,200 refugees from Hong Kong in 1989, compared with 2,000 and 2,500
in 1987 and 1988 respectively. Some countries including the US and
Australia, have said they are prepared to do more to resettle those
who are still left, in the context of the International Conference
to be held in June. They would expect us, too, to play a greater
part.
International Conference
3. The proposals by the ASEAN countries to convene an international
conference on the general problem of boat people and Indo-Chinese
refugees in South East Asia are beginning to take shape. The
conference is likely to be held in Geneva on 13/14 June, although
these are still provisional dates. A 2-3 day PrepCon will be held in Kuala Lumpur in early March. SEAD will shortly submit proposals
for Ministerial attendance at the June Conference. The Governor has
already indicated that he plans to attend. A draft declaration for
a comprehensive plan of action to deal with the problem has already
been drawn up by an international drafting group and will be
discussed further at the PrepCon. It will cover:
CONFIDENTIAL