28,000 refugees who arrived by boat from Indo-China and are in Hong Kong awaiting permanent re-settlement elsewhere.
4. I should like to put on record that despite alr these problems, Britain has already accepted 1,500 Indo-Chinese refugees and has committed herself to accepting a further 1,500 Vietnamese refugees between January 1979 and March 1980. Furthermore, Britain maintains an open-ended commitment to accept refugees rescued by UK-registered shipping when they are not accepted elsewhere;
likewise any refugee with an
established tie or connexion with Britain will always be considered for re-settlement regardless of his or her place of first asylum.
5.
There is no present prospect of Britain accepting any further quota of refugees from this region.
6.
Britain's contributions toward UNHCR have always
been generous.
In 1978 Britain gave nearly £7 million, of which over £2 million was ear-marked for the UNHCR's special operation on behalf of refugees in South East Asia. For similar operations in 1979 Britain has already pledged £3.5 million.
7. On the assumption that arrangements can eventually be agreed in principle for the eligibility of a modest number of Indo-Chinese refugees from Hong Kong for inclusion in the operation of the Special Processing Centres now under review, both Britain and Hong Kong would be prepared to consider making a financial
/contribution
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