RESTRICTED
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
R Goring-Morris Esq OBE
Head of Chancery
Bangkok
Uu. Danie
Telephone 01- 233-8631
Your reference
Our reference
Date
Brun
1/2. Ry Enter mal
1 February 1977
སྙམ
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
1.
I enclose a copy of a recent letter to me from the Standing Conference of British Organisations for Aid to Refugees, a copy of a minute on the subject and of my reply to the Standing Conference. These are self-explanatory.
2. More recently, James Thomson of the World Alliance of YMCAs, during an address to the Asia Committee of the Standing Conference which Charles Humfrey of SEAD and I attended as observers, spoke about a visit he had undertaken to various refugee camps in Thailand. He spoke of reports he had heard in Bangkok (at a meeting of the Co-ordinating Committee of voluntary organisations working for the relief of refugees in Thailand) of British ships refusing to rescue refugees at sea whose boats were in grave danger of sinking.
3.
In my capacity as FCO representative, I intervened to say that HMG had no knowledge of such incidents nor any evidence to suggest that these were anything more than rumours. With the previous concurrence of the DoT I was, however, able to assure the Committee that if they produced some substantive material to show that such incidents had occurred, the Government would be prepared to investi- gate and if the allegations were verified, to take steps to see that such incidents did not recur. Thomson then suggested that we might check, through you, the background to these stories with one of his colleagues who sits on the Co-ordinating Committee referred to above. He is:
Mr Lanjul Chairatana Collins Memorial YMCA 27 South Sathorn Road Bangkok 12.
He thought that Chairatana would be able to let you have details of the alleged offending British ships, with dates, location of incident, etc.
/14. It may well be
RESTRICTED
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.