TNAG-0883-FCO40-1093-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 151

DSR TIC

;

· CONFIDENTIAL

10 -

is being canvassed among the ASEAN countries for the

establishment in the region of an island processing centre,

where refugees could be taken for a temporary period prior to

departure for permanent resettlement. The Indonesian

Government have offered an island for the purpose if certain

conditions are met. The idea, if implemented, could relieve

the pressure, for a time at least, on countries on the

periphery of the South China Sea, at the risk of creating an

intractable and expensive longer term problem. It would not

reduce the need for offers of further resettlement places fro

the international community: the Americans, for one, are

favourably disposed to the idea and hope that it would

stimulate increased offers.

19 The Governor of Hong Kong is strongly in favour of the

idea and has urged HMG to support it. He is particularly

concerned that if the idea goes ahead without British backing

Hong Kong might be excluded from the scheme. This could make

Hong Kong's position even more difficult. The UNHCR is :

studying the proposal but sees a number of difficulties about

it and wonders whether it is in the ultimate interests of the

refugees. The FCO's view is that, while pointing out some of

the difficulties, we should exppess support for the proposal

if it is the wish of the High Commissioner for Refugees to

implement it, and play our part in any further international

discussions.

CONCLUSION

20 It could be argued that the response of the inter-

national community has not been commensurate with the

magnitude of the problem, but it is hard to see what more

could have been done given the speed with which the