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CONFIDENTIAL
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TO PRIORITY CANBERRA TELNO. 382 OF 13 MAY 1975 AND TO PRIORITY WELLINGTON STOCKHOLM COPENHAGEN INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG WASHINGTON OTTAWA PEKING MANILA SINGAPORE (SAIGON UNIT).
MY TELNO. 367 TO HONG KONG: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG.
1. PLEASE APPROACH THE GOVERNMENTS TO WHICH YOU ARE ACCREDITED AT THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL AND SPEAK AS FOLLOWS:-
(A) THE PROBLEM OF 4,609 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG IS NOW ACUTE. THERE IS A NEED TO FIND HOMES FOR THEM. HONG KONG ALREADY ABSORBS 36,000 CHINESE IMMIGRANTS A YEAR WHICH THEY CANNOT REFUSE. THIS, TOGETHER WITH THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, WHO IT IS REASONABLE TO SUPPOSE ESCAPE DETECTION, IS ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO, IN UK TERMS, THE ABSORPTION OF ONE MILLION IMMIGRANTS A YEAR. THIS CAUSES VERY CONSIDERABLE STRAIN ON THE COLONY'S SOCIAL SERVICES AND IT WOULD
BE QUITE WRONG FOR HONG KONG TO BE EXPECTED TO TAKE ALL THOSE REFUSED BY E.G, SINGAPORE AND MANILA OR PERMANENTLY TO HOUSE THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY ARRIVED.
(B) WE ARE ALREADY IN TOUCH WITH THE US AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS BUT WE WOULD URGENTLY APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT TO WHICH YOU ARE ACCREDITED TO HELP IN ABSORBING THIS INFLUX. WE OURSELVES HAVE AGREED, DESPITE OUR OWN IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS OF WHICH EVERYONE MUST BE AWARE, TO DO CUR SHARE.
(C) CANBERRA CHLY. I WAS PLEASED TO SEE PRESS REPORTS OF SENATOR WILLESSEE'S SUPPORT FOR AN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME TO CARE FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES AND OF AUSTRALIA'S OFFER TO CONTRIBUTE A FAIR SHARE. WE HOPE THAT HE CAN BEAR IN MIND THE PARTICULAR DIFFICULTIES FOR HONG KONG.
(D) COPENHAGEN ONLY. THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT WERE GLAD TO BE ABLE TO BE OF HELP TO THE MASTER OF THE CLARA MAERSK IN HIS HUMANI- TARIAN TASK: BUT I HOPE THAT THE DANISH AUTHORITIES WILL BE READY TO SETTLE AT LEAST SOME OF THOSE WHO WERE PICKED UP AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO SETTLE THESE PEOPLE.
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