TNAG-0877-FCO40-1087-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 109

CONFIDENTIAL,

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PS/Mr Luard

INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES

нка 243/1

BELEIVED IN REGISTRY O. 51

·5 JAN1979

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INDEX

No W

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1. Mr Luard may wish to know the latest state of play on the Secretary of State's minute of 6 December to the Home Secretary asking that 1,500 people (divided equally between Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand) be admitted over the next year. We expect the reply to come in early next week, during Mr Luard's own absence

from the office.

24

2.

The Home Office were sympathetic to the FCO proposal but needed to consult the Treasury because of the financial implications. The Treasury called a meeting this morning of representatives from the Home Office, and from the FCO (attended by the Acting Head of UN Department, and by the Assistant Heads of Hong Kong and General

East Department, and of South/Asia Department).

3. Leaving aside the open-ended and therefore unquantifiable liability to accommodate other refugees picked up from the water by UK-registered ships, the Home Office guessed that the total cost

for the 1,500 would be in the region of £1 million, given to the voluntary agencies who would have the work to do. It seemed probable that this cost could be met, through agreed adjustments, within the existing Home Office vote. Anything more than that would probably require resort to the contingency reserve, at which stage Treasury Ministers would need to be consulted. Treasury officials were therefore prepared on their own authority to give concurrence to the Home Office for the existing proposal. But they will inform their Ministers, because of the risk that the scale of the problem might later enlarge.

4.

In the course of discussion, we said to our Home Office and

Treasury official colleagues that:

a) The outlook had worsened since the Secretary of State's minute

of 6 December. Nothing had yet happened to justify our seeking a higher figure than 1,500, but it was right to sound now a

warning note about the increased pressures upon Hong Kong, arising

CONFIDENTIAL

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