TNAG-0886-FCO40-1096-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 21

HKK243/1

RECEIVED IN

ལུ *

DESK OFFIC

INDEX

NO. 51

(781

Mr Murray

INDO-CHINA REFUGEES

1

You requested

По

7415

a statistical table of the number Ö¶ refugees accepted by the major countries of resettlement.

Thina

I attach

12 copies of the table. The figures, provided by the UNHCR, reflect the position on 31 March 1979.

2

With regard to the UK, at 22 May we had accepted 1,923 Indo- China refugees, mostly Vietnamese. This includes 270 out of the 1,500 quota announced by the then Home Secretary in January. Of that 270, 174 have arrived from Hong Kong, 49 from Thailand and 47 from Malaysia. The UK is thus committed to accepting a balance of 1,230 refugees by the end of March 1980. This is apart from any of the 982 refugees on the Sibonga who may come here, and also apart from any family reunification cases who may subsequently be allowed entry to the UK direct from Vietnam or

UK direct from Vietnam or other countries in the region.

Aunqu

29 May 1979

CC:

Mr Simpson-Orlebar HK&GD

SEAD

MVD

P Morgan

United Nations Department