CONFIDENTIAL
5.
- 2 -
The obligations of the 1960 Convention (which substan- tially repeated provisions in an earlier 1948 Convention) are given effect in English law by s.22 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act 1949. This follows sub- stantially the provisions of the Convention, and, like the 1911 Act, makes failure to comply with the principal provi- sions of s.22 a criminal offence.
11
6. Those fleeing by boat from Vietnam may be eligible to be considered as refugees" as defined in Article A.(2) of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, as amended by its Protocol. This defines a refugee as being a person who "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for rea- sons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a parti- cular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it." The Convention does not impose an obligation upon Parties to it to admit refugees to its territory, but does impose certain obligations as to their treatment if they are admitted.
29 May 1979
AD WATTS
LEGAL COUNSELLOR * K166
233 3165
CC:
Sir Ian Sinclair
Legal Adviser
K172
Mr Murray
AUSS
W90
Mr Simons
SEAD
W85
Mr McLaren
HKGD
K246
Mr Ramsay
MAED
G67A/1
Miss Wilmshurst
Legal Advisers
K200
CONFIDENTIAL
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