TNAG-0891-FCO40-1101-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 71

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16. UK ASSISTANCE TO DOMESTIC REFUGEE ORGANISATIONS

(a) Assistance to voluntary refugee organisations

1.

Assistance to the voluntary refugee organisations by the

During 1979/80,

Home Office during 1978/79 amounted to £343,000.

this assistance will have to cover not only the commitments

inherited from the previous year but also the costs of receiving the

refugees from the Sibonga and Roach Bank and the balance of the

quota. A precise estimate of these extra costs is not yet available,

but total expenditure for the year could be of the order of £2 million

(an element of this will be central Government expenditure incurred

in making ready the reception centres at Sopley and Moreton Hall,

Lincolnshire).

2.

The cost of receiving significant additional groups of refugees

depends on whether their numbers, and the phasing of their arrival,

requires new camps to be opened from scratch (as opposed to taking

over a going concern such as an existing teachers' training college).

If the refugees could be received in existing accommodation, the cost

of assistance to the voluntary bodies for dealing with (say) 1,000

refugees in the course of a year could, on past experience, be of the

order of £0.5million but this can only be a rough estimate. The

figure could more than double if expenditure is incurred on new

camps. This estimate is exclusive of social security payments

(which could be of the order of £.5-.6 million for 1,000 refugees in

a full year).

(b) Local authorities

3.

Local authorities in whose areas the latest refugees from the

Sibonga and the Roach Bank are being received will be asking the

Government for assistance towards extra costs incurred by them on

education and social services etc. It is not yet know what these will

amount to.

CONFIDENTIAL