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Indo-China:
[14 FEBRUARY 1979]
We also deeply sympathise with those territories in South-East Asia which are having to shoulder immense burdens in
ing with the influx of these refugees. ...e rapid ånd increasing exodus from Vietnam in particular has placed an intolerable strain upon some countries in this region.
The Government fully sup- port the action being taken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to try to find solutions to this most difficult and complex problem, and we warmly. applaud the success he has already achieved in resettling tens of thousands of refugees from Indo-China.
Unfortunately, however, as the noble Lord quite rightly pointed out, the number of those still requiring resettlement grows larger every day. I believe that this was a point which was emphasised by the noble Baroness, Lady Vickers. It is, indeed, estimated that nearly 70,000 boat people, as they are called, still require to be resettled. Most are in Malaysia, but large numbers are also in Hong Kong and other territories in the region. Apart from these, there are nearly 140,000 refugees in camps in Thailand. The High Com- missioner needs the assistance of the whole international community, not just the assistance of a few countries, in trying to help these unfortunate people. I shall, of course, respond to the request of my noble friend Lord Segal for figures as to the contribution made to resettlement by various countries. My noble friend asked some detailed questions and, as he sug- gested, these are for reply, perhaps in the next few days.
The British Government are playing their part and have encouraged other countries to do likewise Since 1975, some 1,400 refugees from Indo-China have accepted for settlement in the United Kingdom. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary announced in another place on 17th January his decision
-to which the noble Lord, Lord Monson, I was glad to hear, paid tribute--to admit to the United Kingdom a further 1,500 Vietnamese refugees over the next 12 to 15 months. I am urged to do better. We shall certainly continue to study the matter to see how much more we can do.
I would remind the House, of course, that we have certain obligations
of entrance to others in various parts of the world who live in the former Empire
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and who have claims upon us. They number something like 70,000 a year. These are not refugees, but they have claims upon this country and upon our I believe that more than one noble Lord has emphasised that in ex- tending the hand of humanity to the refugees we must be careful to do so in such a way that we do not neglect to meet other rightful claims upon our hospitality
resources.
from other quarters.
Lord ELTON: My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Lord would allow me to ask him a question on this point? May I ask him whether the refugce quota is subtracted from the overall quota of people coming to this country for settle- ment? Secondly, may I ask him whether he would respond to the request of countries of first asylum that we might announce rather longer ahead the quotas which we would accept? I regret that I omitted from my speech a whole passage of thanks to the Government for what they have done in various spheres. I join with the noble Lord in this. Would it not be possible, by extending forwards the programme and having a steady flow, to assist the unwilling hosts that these people are staying with now to plan the eventual exodus?
My
Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS: Lords, on the second point, I certainly think that can be studied with sympathy. It seems to be a point of practical interest to us all. On the first point of whether the so-called quota is subtracted from the total entry I have not the information to hand at the moment but it is a point of importance and I will see that the noble Lord and the House are given the right information on that.
The noble Baroness, Lady Vickers, and my noble friend Lord Segal, made a number of other suggestions which I have noted very carefully. It would perhaps take too much time this evening for me to discuss them at any length, but I will certainly ask my right honourable friends to consider what has been suggested. One aspect of the problem which is some- times overlooked is the immense cost of maintaining and caring for the refugees while they are awaiting durable solutions to their problems. Britain is a leading financial contributor to international re-
fugee programmes. During 1978 we
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