WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1988
12
THE UNDERSTANDING REACHED AT THE 1979 GENEVA CONFERENCE WAS SIMPLY NOT WORKING ANY MORE, SHE SAID.
IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR, LECCO MEMBERS HAD ALREADY SEEN THE NECESSITY OF ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE INVOLVING VIETNAM, COUNTRIES OF FIRST ASYLUM AND COUNTRIES OF RESETTLEMENT IN ORDER TO FIND A DURABLE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.
OF
“HƯNG KONG HAS ALWAYS CONSIDERED ITSELF A MEMBER INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, AND, AS SUCH, IS PREPARED TO CONTRIBUTE FAIR SHARE TOWARDS THE SOLUTION OF ANY INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM.
THE ITS
"IN THE CASE OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE, WE HAVE DONE MORE THAN OUR FAIR SHARE. WHAT IS NEEDED NOW IS REASONABLE CO-OPERATION FROM RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES ON INCREASED 'RESETTLEMENT' AND FROM VIETNAM ON SPEEDY 'REPATRIATION' SHE SAID.
F
"
MRS FAN ALSO ACCUSED
THE UNITED KINGDOM GOVERNMENT OF NOT
ACCEPTING MORE VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE FROM HONG KONG,
SHE SAID HONG KONG'S POPULATION DENSITY WAS 22 TIMES THAT OF THE UK AND ITS SOCIAL SERVICES AND FACILITIES NEVER SEEMED TO CATCH UP WITH THE NEEDS OF ITS SIX MILLION POPULATION.
"I THEREFORE FIND IT HARD TO ACCEPT THE REASONS GIVEN BY THE UK FOR NOT INCREASING ITS INTAKE OF REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG FROM 20 TO 60 A MONTH AS RECOMMENDED BY THE BRITISH REFUGEE COUNCIL, MRS FAN SAID.
H
IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, SHE SAID, BRITAIN HAD TAKEN LESS THAN 1,000 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG WHILE IN THE SAME PERIOD, BOTH CANADA AND THE U.S.A. HAD TAKEN IN FIVE TIMES THAT FIGURE.
"SURELY BRITAIN CAN DO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HOPE TO VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM HONG DISMAL, SHE ADDED.
BETTER THAN THIS, HOW CAN BRITISH PERSUADE OTHER COUNTRIES
ACCEPT KONG WHEN THEIR OWN RECORD IS SO
"IT IS APPRECIATED THAT AN INCREASE IN INTAKE REFUGEES BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT MAY NOT BE A POPULAR UK, BUT THIS MUST BE BALANCED AGAINST THE RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS HONG KONG, AND THE WAY BRITAIN'S ATTITUDE IS OTHER RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES.
סין
OF VIETNAMESE
MOVE IN
THE BRITAIN HAS INTERPRETED BY
"ONE OPTION THAT I WOULD SUGGEST FOR THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S CONSIDERATION IS TO MAKE A COMMITMENT OF ANNUAL INTAKE OVER A PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS. IF THE NUMBER IS SET AT 700 PER ANNUM, THEN A TOTAL 3,500 REFUGEES CAN BE GRADUALLY RESETTLED IN BRITAIN BETWEEN NOW ANT 1993.
OF
MRS FAN ADDED THAT SUCH A COMMITMENT WOULD GIVE CONSIDERABLE HOPE TO THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG, AND WOULD MOTIVATE TO PREPARE THEMSELVES BETTER IN VOCATIONAL SKILLS AND LANGUAGES INTEGRATION IN THE UK.
THEM
FOR
"IT WILL