CONFIDENTIAL
7.
should be to get the Vietnamese to cooperate in introducing greater orderliness in the outflow.
We should see if there is any support for a general appea
to be issued from Geneva for the Vietnamese to desist from
their present behaviour. This might conceivably have some
effect, provided that the ASEAN countries and actual or
potential aid donors were associated with it. The support of the US (from whom the Vietnamese are hoping for aid) would be
crucial; but the preliminary American view is that it will
not be politically possible to stem the flow of people from Vietnam, and I suspect the US is still thinking in terms of
'normalisation' of relations. Likewise Australian officials
see the need for Australia to strike a balance between
pressure on Vietnam and the desire not to damage bilateral
relations. And the French will almost certainly be reluctant
to put Vietnam in the dock.
(vi) Longer term action: We should be prepared to join with other
countries in the search for territory where refugees could be settled. (ODM will have to be asked if we can provide funds
to enable the refugees to be more easily assimilated into a
new environment; but at Geneva we could indicate that we
would examine a financial contribution sympathetically). We
should seek to involve other countries in this process, who
have not been invited to Geneva by the UNHCR.
Officials from the FCO and Hong Kong will join the British delegation and, I hope, one from the Home Office too.
8. Departments are submitting separately on the future of the
small British aid programme in Vietnam and on the European
Commission's proposals for capital aid.
6 December 1978
4
CONFIDENTIAL
DF Murray
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