CONFIDENTIAL
布政司
BY BAG 署
香港下亞
畢道
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
*** Our Ref.: SCR 1/4831/76 III
*** Your Ref.:
Pat
29 March 1978
аккажан
·5 APR 1978
J THOMPSON ESQ
HONG KONG & GENERAL DEPARTMENT
INDEX
PA
F CO
Dear John,
REFUGEE FLIGHTS FROM HO CHI MINH CITY
Please refer to your letter of 1 March to David Wilson about the UNHCR request to use the C P A Flights to bring out further groups of refugees.
2.
We have consulted Immigration Department here and while we do not wish to appear unhelpful there are a number of good reasons why we are unable to meet this request. The major difficulty is that the programme of C P A flights is coming to an end and all the available seats are needed for Hong Kong cases. any case, after Maideen leaves there will be no facilities in Ho Chi Minh City for handling such cases.
3.
In
In any case, we think the Vietnamese would be unlikely to agree to the suggestion that the C A L flights should carry passengers bound for the US A and we would not wish to put our own programme in jeopardy.
4.
This is not the first time we have had such a request. In the past we have turned down similar suggestions from a number of sources, including the Canadians and Australians.
5.
We are sorry to be unable to help the U NHC R but hope they will appreciate our own problems. We doubt whether this refusal will affect the excellent relationship which our Immigration Department have with UNHCR's representative in Kuala Lumpur or the local
US authorities.
CONFIDENTIAL
-/2.
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