TNAG-0556-FCO40-651-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-othe-1975 — Page 14

CONFIDENTIAL

5. SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE F C O, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU

COULD REINFORCE OUR REPRESENTATIONS HERE BY DRAWING THE ATTENTION

OF THE APPROPRIATE GERMAN AUTHORITIES TO OUR URGENT NEED FOR HELP

IN RESETTLING THESE VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. WE UNDERSTAND FROM GERMAN

CONSUL-GENERAL THAT ON 7 MAY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOOK A DECISION

TO HELP RESETTLE VIETNAMESE REFUGEES WHERE THEY COULD, BUT FINAL DECISIONS WILL DEPEND ON WILLINGNESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL LANDER TO RECEIVE THEM. NEVERTHELESS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MIGHT BE ENCOURAGED

TO RECOMMEND ADMISSION OF SOME OF OUR REFUGEES. TO THE LANDER.

6. YOU MAY CARE TO POINT OUT THAT HONG KONG'S SOCIAL SERVICES ARE

ALREADY OVER-BURDENED AND THAT WE CAN ONLY HOLD THE REFUGEES

TEMPORARILY IN HONG KONG PENDING SATISFACTORY ARRANGEMENTS FOR

THEIR ONWARD MOVEMENT. WE ALREADY HAVE CONSIDERABLE PROBLEMS ABSORBING THE INFLUX OF PEOPLE FROM CHINA (RUNNING AT OVER 30,000 PER ANNUM).

7. WE HAVE REMINDED THE GERMANS HERE THAT AS A RESULT OF CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S REFUSAL TO CONSIDER THAT ANY CHINESE IN HONG KONG COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS ''REFUGEES'', THE OFFICE OF THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES IN HONG KONG WAS WITHDRAWN IN 1972. SINCE THEN, 1.C.E.M, HAVE KEPT A WATCHING BRIEF FOR UNH C R. INTERVENTION BY U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER IN HONG KONG'S PROBLEMS, THOUGH NOT RELATED DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, MIGHT THEREFORE STRIKE THE WRONG NOTE (CF PARA 2. OF F C O TELEGRAM UNDER REFERENCE AND PARA 1A OF CANBERRA TELEGRAM NO 429 TO F C 0).

-2- CONFIDENTIAL

18.