TNAG-0885-FCO40-1095-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 59

CONFIDENTIAL

Hige 243/1

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RAJEIVED IN RENRY NO.

2 3 MAY 1979

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Mr Murray

PS/Mr Blakef

Big All

Draft

PROBLEM

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DESK INDEX

RE

1. A British registered vessel is now heading towards Hong Kong with 900 Vietnamese refugees picked up in the South China Sea. The Governor of Hong Kong has asked for an assurance that all who

are not offered resettlement places by third countries will be accepted into the UK, and will be moved to this country within one month (Hong Kong telegram No 610).

BACKGROUND

2. The British registered vessel, MV Sibonga, owned by the British Bank Line Ltd., rescued about 900 refugees from two boats 100 miles south of Vietnam on 21 May. The Sibonga left Bangkok on 19 May and is due to arrive at Hong Kong, its next port of all, late on 23 May.

3. Our policy towards refugees rescued at sea is to support the international convention that they should be landed at the rescuing vessel's next scheduled port of call, and handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to arrange resettlement. When refugees are rescued by a British registered vessel we normally give an undertaking to the government of the country in which the vessel's next port of call is situated that we shall allow into Britain any refugees for whom the UNHCR is unable to arrange permanent settlement in a third country. There is no fixed time limit, though in most cases we agree to accept all whose who have

not been resettled within two or three months.

4.

It could be argued that as Hong Kong is a British territory we have no obligation to give the Hong Kong Government any undertaking with regard to the eventual resettlement of the refugees on board

the Sibonga. However, Hong Kong Government are at present faced by a problem which is rapidly assuming crisis proportions.

There are already over 30,000 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong awaiting resettlement, and the number is increasing by an average of almost 500 a day. The refugees are arriving much faster than they are being

/resettled

CONFIDENTIAL