80
CONFIDENTIAL
BY BAG
CR 2/4821/75 IV
+kk 243 | 1...
Акк
3 OMAY 1978
51
UN DEPARTMENT
FCO
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
INDEX
No
19 May 1978
clion Taken
We vere pleased to see (para one of your telno 142 of 9 May to Bangkok) that the guarantee you vere villing to give the Thais in the case of the mv "SIBONGA" flowed from a general policy applicable to all refugees rescued by ships registered in UK ports. It was a pity that, in the event, it was not possible to test the Thai reaction. we assume that if similar cases arise in future the offer can be made fairly quickly so that protracted negotiations do not tempt ships' captains to proceed to Hong Kong. However ve agree that initially it is important to try to persuade the authorities of the countries of first port of call to receive refugees without seeking guarantees.
2.
In any event, we hope that it will only be in exceptional circumstances that Hong Kong would again be asked to help since, even when this is limited to providing transit facilities, the effect is still to encourage a view of Hong Kong as a soft option. We should therefore be grateful to know whether you can agree that in principle the fallback position (should your guarantee be unacceptable) would be to ask the local authorities to make transit arrangements available rather than having these provided in Hong Kong.
(I Corr)
CC
SEAD, FCO
H K & GD, F C O
CONFIDENTIAL
14
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