TNAG-0558-FCO40-653-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-othe-1975 — Page 72

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At flag 'D' below is a minute from Mr Keefe of the Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Department asking authority to offer £50,000 to help Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong.

On 29 May, Mrs Hart agreed to our contributing £20,000

towards the cost of Vietnamese refugees at present stranded in Hong Kong (flag 'D'). This was on the assumption that the problem was temporary and that vigorous efforts would be made to find a permanent home for them elsewhere. She went on to say that "if the refugees had to stay for some time, we might need to look at this again". Considerable efforts are being made to resettle the refugees in other countries with results that we are now told "a total of about 2,000 may be resettled by the end of the summer". This would leave about 1,500 still to be settled and a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is, I understand, already in Hong Kong examining the problem.

Strictly speaking, dealing with these refugees is a problem for Hong Kong and Hong Kong is not a territory to which we normally give aid. The circumstances in which these refugees arrived in Hong Kong, however, were extraordinary. They were picked up by a Danish vessel from a Vietnamese vessel which was sinking and were steaming towards Hong Kong at about the time of the Queen's visit. The British Government were anxious for a variety of reasons to arrange their resettlement in other countries and, as a goodwill gesture in connection with the Queen's visit, and in order to show other Governments that we were willing to help out, we made a payment from our Disaster Funds of £20,000. This was about sufficient to keep the original 3,500 refugees going for about six days.

As regards the request for a further £50,000, we can find the money with no difficulty from contingencies and the Treasury are also prepared to agree to it. This grant in aid will require a supplementary provision and recourse to the contingency fund but, if the proposal is approved, Finance Department can set the necessary machinery in train without difficulty.

The arguments in favour of providing a further £50,000 are, first, that the original £20,000 was not very generous in relation to the size of the problem. Secondly, if these refugees are to be resettled, continuous pressure from the British Government will be necessary and it would be an earnest of our goodwill if we could offer more money, provided we do not offer too much. £50,000 to help maintain them over the next two months should be about enough to serve the purpose.

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HRR 18/25

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