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towards UKPII and families of immigrants. [For the delegation's own information the Secretary of State has asked the Home Secretary to consider accepting an additional intake of 1,500 "boat refugees" (500 each from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand): however, no decision is likely to be made on this in time to be announced at the conference. Any holding formula which the Home Office agree we may use will be telegraphed to Geneva.] We hope the UNHCR will use any new quotas announced at the conference to relieve Hong Kong's burden and also to relieve the pressures on the camps in Malaysia and Thailand. We hope that any such pledges made by countries at the conference would not be used exclusively by UNIICR as a bargaining counter with the Vietnamese with the aim of processing applicants inside Vietnam against quotas pledged.
(b) Asylum procedures and observance of international
obligations towards "boat refugees": emphasise the responsibilities of all ships to pick up anyone in distress at sea (the British Government has reminded ships' masters through the General Council of British Shipping of their obligations in this respect) and the moral obligation of states in the region to allow such refugees to be landed at the first port of call. We recognise the problems this causes to countries of first asylum, which is why the UK was among the first to take ultimate responsibility for all refugees rescued by UK-registered ships who cannot be resettled elsewhere. Participating countries with ships using the area who have not made a similar commitment should be urged to do so; and those states in South-East Asia which have adopted restrictive asylum policies (for example, Singapore and Taiwan) should be encouraged to liberalise their policies though the UK delegation should not single out individual countries for special criticism. If those states with restrictive policies could be encouraged to liberalise them (Hong Kong would be an example to follow), this ought to result in a wider sharing within the region of the refugee case-load.
(c) Hong Kong: leave no doubt of Hong Kong's problems.
Since 1975 Hong Kong has accepted for permanent set- tlement some 10,000 people from Indo-China, including about 4,000 former Vietnam residents with Hong Kong connexions who were airlifted by the Hong Kong Government from Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, many thousands of Vietnamese refugees have passed through Hong Kong for processing before being resettled in other countries. There are at present some 4,000 Vietnamese refugees, mainly "boat refugees", there most of whom have very little prospect of resettlement elsewhere. The Colony has consistently operated a generous asylum policy in respect of Vietnamese refugees. (Further points and additional background are at Annex B).
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