TNAG-0884-FCO40-1094-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 132

CONFIDENTIAL

d)

the UK is a major financial contributor

to UNHCR.

You may at discretion

toy

Itral'

5. if the question of Hong Kong's participation in the

island scheme cannot be settled in advance of the 15/16

May meeting then we consider it would be a fit subject for

discussion at that meeting.

the

6. You should alee say that we propose to take up/offer in

Mr Salek's letter of 20 April to include another official

in your delegation whom we think would be best able to advise

from his own experience on the Hong Kong aspects. (The second

paragraph of Saleh's letter states "It is up to each participant

country whether to delegate another government official to

attend besides their respective Ambassadors".)

7. You will receive your instructions for the 15/16 May

meeting after the new British Government has taken office, But

You may Say thali [if Indonesia insists on excluding Hong Kong refugees from the

Island you may say you expect your instructions may well be to

in pen session speak as in a) to d) above and to say in open session that

this selectivity means that we must deploy our available

resources to relieving Hong Kong and may neither contribute to

the Island nor take refugees from it. It is our hope and, we

assume, the Indonesians, that we can avoid this. While we

cannot commit a new British Government,nor indeed the Hong Kong

Government, we believe that if the Island accepted a proportionate

flow of refugees from Hong Kong as from ASEAN territories, the

Hong Kong Government itself might be prepared to contribute.