CO537-4998 — Page 285

Commandert in-Chief Views

Colonial Office Views

Our Comments

Forces to meet the Threat Contd.

(c) R.N.

Available ships of the Far East Station (for fire support).

Note:-

A.0.P. will be required.

7. Refugee Problem

The importance of preventing an

influx of refugees is stressed, since this would greatly increase the internal security and administrative commitments of the colony

(1) Saturation point willbe reached when the existing population is increased by another 100,000 although 250,000 refugees could be supported for a short time.

(ii) Closing the frontier will involve

the use of wire to canalise entry, but serious objections exist to beginning wiring except in places where it could be dono ostensibly for other reasons.

(iii) Effective closure would involve

use of three infantry battalions in addition to Police and H.K.V.D.F.

(iv) If bloodshed resulted from closure of frontier, serious internal repercussions would result.

(v) Fully effective closure of the

sea frontier would be difficult and would require considerable service assistance.

R.N.

We agree with the Colonial Office as

to the difficulty of preventing illegal entry by sea and consider

that the Naval C-in-C should be asked for his proposals for Naval assistance in this respect.

(i)We understand from the Colonial Office that

refugees might be numbered in millions rather than thousands.

(ii) The refugee problem is the most immediate threat to the Colony and the military authorities must clearly co-operate in checking the influx of refugees.

(iii) All possible measures to check the influx

should be taken forthwith and the civil and military authorities must tackle this problem together as a matter of urgency. In particular the advisability of erecting wire now should be reexamined by the civil and military authorities.

4. Action by Civil Government

The Civil Government should be encouraged to take all possible measures to free the Hong Kong garrison for its primary task of resisting external aggression. addition to the formation of the H.K.V.D.F. the Civil Government should:

(a) Take action to ensure the

In

reliability of the Police Porce

(b) Establish an Auxiliary Polico

Force.

(c) Establish an organisition to deal

with fofuges.

(a) Make arrangements for registration and

food rationing to discourage illegal immigration.

(e) Continue the development of

intelligence organisations in the Colony on a joint Service/Civil basis.

(i) The Chinese members of the Police

Force carnot be regarded as wholly reliable, but could be relied on to deal with the refugee problem provided they had military backing.

(ii) Except for a few Europeans and

Eurasians, there is no manpower available for an auxiliary Police Force except the unreliable Chinese population.

(ii) The recruitment of a separate

force would prejudice recruiting`· for the H.K.V.D.F.

(1) We agree with the Colonial Office that it would

be impossible to recruit an Auxiliary Police Force, but consider that attempts should be made to increase the size of the existing Police Force and that the possibility of recruiting an extra infantry battalion in the H.K.V.D.F. should be examined. Possibility of using ex-members of Palestine Police Force to provide European element.for expansion of Falice (vido Melaja) should be qua ined,

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(ii) We agree with the C's-in-C that an

organisation should be established to deal with refugees, and that arrangements should be made for registration and food rationing in order to discourage illegal immigration.

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