TNAG-0879-FCO40-1089-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 12

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布政司署

香港下亞畢道

**** OUR Ref.: TSX L/M 8/79

HKX 243/1.

來函檔號 YoUR REF.:4

99

RJT McLaren Esq

Hong Kong & General Department F CO

lei

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES

GOVERNMent secRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

· 17 January, 1979

145 Quaferu

Department Jali a

Regists

مدة عامم من

hid po phall

LN Cek

The Assesmente inalt !

بمجمجمه

please Copy to Nr. G. E. Clark Jabinet Offic

Thank you for your efforts to get an assessment made for us about the Vietnamese refugee problem (your telegram No.33 of 11 January).

2.

It is disappointing that nobody has been able to turn up more. My idea of asking you to pass on a request to the Assessments Staff was, of course, that they should tap what is available from our intelligence allies. It was clear, for instance, that

originally knew more than they were telling us.

I did not know that when I made the request to you. Furthermore, I do not know whether we here get to know of everything which is available to the CIA.

3.

As you can imagine, hard information on this subject is of the greatest importance to us at the moment. Furthermore, we need some way of checking the large number of rumours which sometimes flower, unbeknownst to the casual observer, from a single stem. Perhaps all I can ask is that you should pass on our needs to the Assessments Staff and say that we would be grateful for everything that comes through on their net (sent either to me or the local LIC) and that we have a local need for assessments whenever they are in a position to make them,

THIS IS A COPY

THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN

CLOSED UNTIL

UNDER FOI

eve

26

EXEMPTION No.3.8.........

THIS IS A COPY

THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN RETAINED IN THE DEPARTMENT UNDER

SECTION 3 (4) OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1958

(D C Wilson)

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