Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
LETTER
DRAFT
To:-
His Excellency Dr Kurt Waldheim United Nations New York
PSR H
Type 1 +
From
Prime Minister
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
Thank you for your message about your recent visit to South East Asia and the acute humanitarian problem which the flow of refugees from Indo-China has posed for the international community. The British Government are conscious both of the terrible plight of the refugees
themselves and of the burdens placed on the territories
of South East Asia most closely affected by the exodus. We fully endorse your appeal for more to be done to achieve a lasting humanitarian solution. The people of Britain are appalled by the human misery that Vietnam is inflicting on the rest of the world.
The alarming increase in the numbers of Vietnamese refugees arriving in Hong Kong causes us particular concern The colony now has over 38,000 refugees awaiting resettleme elsewhere and we have ourselves been seeking, and are continuing to seek, help from other governments in sharing this burden. The results so far have not been encouraging.
Britain has already admitted 1,923 Indo-China refugees and is committed to receiving 1,230 more by the end of March next year. In addition to this quota we are acceptin any of the 982 refugees now aboard the 'Sibonga' in Hong Kong who are not acceptable for resettlement in other countries; and we shall continue to consider applications
for resettlement here of family reunification cases and of others from the region who have ties or connections with the United Kingdom. Moreover, Britain has already pledged
/3.5 million
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