TNAG-0884-FCO40-1094-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 88

bor

I

RESTRICTED

rheber

LAKE Dy3

Me

MAY 197

专

British Embassy

3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20008

Telex Domestic USA 89-2370/89-2384

Telex International 64224(WUI)/248308(RCA)/440015(ITT) Telephone (202) 462-1340

P Morgan Esq

United Nations Department.

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

10

*

હ

Your reference

1/5

No Regz -J2.de HKRGD. SEAD

Mr. Leaky

Mumay

Our reference 243/1.

Mar

Date 25 April 1979

d

ared D8 it

山

DO

Dear Pak

570

hope so

An e

il

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: RESETTLEMENT IN US

1.

I had a word with Hank Cushing, Deputy Director for Refugee Affairs at the State Department, about the news, in Hong Kong telno 475 to FCO (not repeated to all) that the United States have been obliged to reduce the number of refugees from South East Asia being resettled in the US in April and May.

2.

Cushing told me that the Administration' had submitted a supplementary budgetary request to Congress to make allowances for the increases in the resettlement programme decided upon in December last year and again last month. They had been led to believe that the Congress would be willing to take early action on this request. However they had now been told by those concerned on the Hill that there was no prospect of any action on the supplementary request until after Congress had taken action on a budget resolution which will set overall ceilings for the budget as a whole. I understand that this vote is not due until 15 May.

3. Cushing said that to keep refugees moving, the State Department were urgently trying to reprogramme other unallocated funds, but confirmed that in the absence of Congressional approval for the supplementary request, departures from the region would have to be reduced in May, and possibly stopped altogether in June. However he said that no-one in the State Department doubted that the Congress would in the end come through with the full amount of the supplementary request. He assured me that this meant that the United States would not only be able to resume accepting refugees at the 7,000 per month level, but would be able to recoup the backlog of those delayed during April, May and possibly June. In the long term therefore, there would be no effect on the total number of refugees taken from the region.

RESTRICTED

14.