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draft letter to the Treasury.
2.
"For some time the High Commissioner for Refugees had been considering appealing to the international community to find resettlement opportunities for this first category of refugees and it was following some pressure from ourselves and the Americans that he launched his appeal more rapidly than he might otherwise have done. Our reasons for applying such pressure, apart from the obvious humanitarian considerations, were to help alleviate Hong Kong's burden and also to get other countries in the area to allow themselves to be used for first asylum. The main American concern is, of course, to encourage others to share the burden of permanent
settlement." 1
According to UNHCR, the number of refugees in this first category has now risen to 1500. The figure in para 3(1) of the Home Office Note (Flag A) therefore needs to be up-dated. This also applies to para 3(a) of Goldsmith's suggested new paragraph 3 for your own draft letter to the Home Office.
3. One final point. I understand that the British voluntary organisations concerned with the reception of Vietnamese refugees have found, on past experience, that these refugees are extremely difficult to integrate into our community and I believe one or two are having serious misgivings about whether such refugees should come here at all. I have asked the Standing Conference of British Organisations to let us have a brief report on this - but this is really something for the Home Office to follow up.
7 October 1976
P Morgan
United Nations Department K 152
8631
Amendment
mendments in Cipuated. heller to issue.
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