TNAG-0878-FCO40-1088-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 10

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In Williamson J19) ir hay

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Cas. Seeff 2

CHIEF SECRETAR

SECRETART TO

HKK 248/1

19 JANI:72

PAK OFMCER

INDEX

No

PA

fati

لايف

Treasury Chambers, Parliament Street, SWIP 3AG

The Rt Hon Merlyn Rees MP

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Home Office

50 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT

UND

B hond Gronst-Robarts

Analyn

INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES

&

16 January 1979

B. Mr huard

PS Pus

некал

Mc Cartana's

FED

MID

Mr MURARY.

Here

Weir. BEAD.

NOS

OLD

I have seen the copy of your letter of 9 January to the Foreign Secretary which you sent to the Chancellor.

In the discussions which my officials have had with Home Office and FCO officials, they have agreed that they would endorse proposals for additional expenditure in the form of grants to voluntary organisations to enable.hem to handle the additional inflow of 1,500 Vietnamese refugees in the financial year 1979-80, provided that the additional money can be found from your existing public expenditure allocation for 1979-80. I therefore agree with the proposal that the Government should admit 1,500 Vietnamese refugees from camps in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand on the same conditions that you outline in your letter in particular that this is a one-off response to the international problem.

I also agree that we need to monitor the developing problems caused by the exodus of Vietnamese refugees, particularly to Hong Kong. This may well need to be discussed among our colleagues. I therefore support the suggestion you make in your penultimate paragraph, that the Official Committee on Community Relations and Immigration should consider regular reports from FCO officials recording significant developments in the Vietnamese refugee situation.

I am sending copies of this letter to the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, HS colleagues and Sir John Hunt.

Ine

JOEL BARNETT