T0764
CABINET OFFICE
мошкой гови Mr
RM 2871, Mr. Has
P.A.
70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS Telephone 01-270 0050
ая
19
Mrs E M Walton
Department of the Environment
2 Marsham Street
London SW1
Doar Mis Walton
CONFIDENTIAL
17 November 1989
HKB 040 19
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES;
FOLLOW-UP TO OD MEETING ON 8 JUNE 1989
Thank you for sending me a copy of your letter of 10 November enclosing a draft paper for OD(K). As I metnioned over the telephone, I have a few comments.
2.
It is not always clear how far the paper is talking about a specific number of Vietnamese refugees admitted to this country and how far about refugees and asylum seekers generally. I think this confusion starts in paragraph 1 of the draft, where the OD remit of 8 June is not correctly quoted. I suggest the first paragraph ought to quote Mr Ridley's remit word for word;
it was:
"to arrange for officials of interested Departments to investigate ways and means of ensuring that Vietnamese entering the United Kingdom as a result of the Committee's decision [ie 1,000 Vietnamese] were directed to and would remain in areas of the country where the problems of accommodating them were most readily manageable".
You could if you wished go on to say that for logical and practical reasons any measures applied to these 1,000 would need to be applied also to other refugees and asylum seekers.
"
1
CONFIDENTIAL