TNAG-0886-FCO40-1096-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 62

(contd)

CONFIDENTIAL

2

There

2.

The meeting was a success for Dr Mochtar in that the Galang project was given a general welcome. Considerable financial support was offered by Japan, the US and Australia (a grant of A$250,000). was, however, criticism in the corridors of the high preliminary Indonesian estimate of US$18.5 million for setting up the R P C and running it for one year. An urgent full-scale feasibility study is being undertaken, but there is no timetable for work starting.

3.

Of the resettlement countries only the US indicated plans to use the island. This is not surprising since access is restricted to refugees already individually promised resettlement places and only the Americans said that the establishment of the R P C would enable more offers to be made. This they will do by putting lower priority cases into a slower moving pipeline. Once the RPC is full they plan to move refugees out at a rate of about 300 to 400 a month, with departures being matched by new arrivals. They believe the Indonesians will accept this slow turnover as long as it is not publicly admitted that what is being created is a long-term refugee holding centre. This will in turn enable extra places to be guaranteed without increasing the current US Indo-Chinese refugee programme (once funding becomes available) of 7,000 a month actually travelling to the US from the region. The crunch will come when the host country demands that the R P C be run down. The Americans hope that by the time this happens the outflow of refugees from Vietnam will have slackened. That may be a forlorn hope but, in the meantime, the Americans believe extra resettlement offers will stave off the day when ASEAN countries close their doors completely to refugees.

Orderly Outflow

4.

Some pointed remarks about the source of the problem were made in opening statements by Malaysia, Australia and Japan. However, Dr Mochtar's ruling that the meeting was to discuss the Galang project and not the causes of the refugee outflow gave the proceedings an air of unreality.

5.

The Vietnamese attended as special guests but made virtually no contribution beyond an opening statement which,

(a) blamed the exodus on "inciting propaganda" and people being "unable to accustom themselves to the difficult post-war conditions of the country and to engage themselves in the productive labour of the new society";

CONFIDENTIAL

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- ཡམྨསྶནྟི