TNAG-0891-FCO40-1101-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 112

1168

GR 925

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

DL.KBY 218908Z

AM UKMIS NEW YORK 210026Z JUNE 79

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 644 OF 20 JUNE

HKK 943/1

21.0979

IND

по

BS BY

(Action

INFO IMMEDIATE UKMIS GENEVA WASHINGTON HONG KONG PRIORITY, KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE BANGKOK JAKARTA WELLINGTON OTTAWA PEKING

TOKYO MOSCOW PARIS EONN,

YOUR TELNO 284: UN CONFERENCE ON INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES

1. SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, ACCOMPANIED BY MANSFIELD, CALLED THIS AFTERNOON ON WALDHEIM, WHO HAD BUFFUM AND URQUHART IN SUPPORT.

2. THE GOVERNOR STRESSED THE GRAVITY OF THE REFUGEE SITUATION IN HONG KONG. THE CURRENT INFLUX OF REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM AT THE RATE OF 1000 A DAY SET AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE MASSIVE INCREASE IN IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA (A PROJECTED TOTAL OF 270,000 THIS YEAR), MEANT THAT TEMPERS IN HONG KONG COULD SNAP AT ANY TIME, PARTICULARLY IF SOUTH EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES WERE SEEN TO BE SUCCEED- ING IN STEMMING THE FLOW BY STRONG-ARM MEASURES, RECENT MALAYSIAN STATEMENTS WERE SEEN AS BLACKMAIL, AND THERE WAS FOR EXAMPLE ALREADY GREAT RESENTMENT AT THE DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN MALAYSIAN AND HONG KONG IMMIGRATION QUOTAS IN THE US, THE WHOLE SOUTH EAST ASIAN AREA AND HONG KONG COULD BE HEADING FOR AN EXPLOSION IF PROGRESS TOWARDS CREDIBLE RESETTLEMENT ARRANGEMENTS WERE NOT SEEN IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT COUNTRIES WHICH MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP DID NOT EVADE THEIR RESPONSIBILITES ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE PROBLEM WAS TOO BIG TO HANDLE, THE PROBLEM WAS FINITE, THE FINAL FIGURE OF BOAT REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM NEEDING RESETTLEMENT WAS NOT LIKELY TO EXCEED 823,000. IT WAS NOT NECESSARY OR POSSIBLE TO FIND AN INSTANT SOLUTION BUT IT WAS NECESSARY TO REACH DECISIONS VERY SOON WHICH WOULD PROVIDE REASSURANCES THAT CONCRETE STEPS WOULD BE TAKEN WITHIN A MEASUREABLE TIME PERIOD. BUT THIS COULD BE A PROGRAMME SPREAD OVER AS MUCH AS TWO YEARS. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A MINISTERIAL MEETING COULD BE MADE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT THE VIETNAMESE AT LEAST BE PERSUADED THAT THEY MUST ENSURE THAT REFUGEES HAD SAFE MEANS OF TRANSPORT AND A SURE DESTINAT

ION.

CONFIDENTIAL

13.