TNAG-0893-FCO40-1103-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 88

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J 72/7 north and south. The proportion of small boats coming from the south doubled from 14 per cent in May to 27 per cent in June. Even if the outflow from the north slows down, there is every reason to fear that total arrivals will be at or above the May and June levels because of an increased outflow from the south to Hong Kong. Furthermore, and this is a point which should not be disclosed to the Americans, we have increasing suspicions that there may still be considerable numbers coming by boat from China

It is extremely hard to obtain conclusive evidence but it is hard to believe that all these very small and overladen sailing junks which have been arriving recently could have come directly from the Haiphong area.

Hong Kong's contribution

5.

We hope you will highlight in any briefing material the numbers of refugees already settled in Hong Kong. The US Consulate General recently passed me a table prepared by the State Department of 'Third Country Resettlement' (copy enclosed) which made no mention of Hong Kong. While the basis of this table clearly excludes Indo-Chinese refugees stranded abroad about the time of the fall of Saigon, it does include all people brought to resettlement destinations since then. I pointed out that on this basis the figure for Hong Kong is 5,200 (dependents brought out on flights and boat fefugees) giving a resettlement rate (at our 1977 population of 4.6 million) of 113 per 100,000. This is second only to Australia in the US table. I should be grateful if Stephen Howarth would make the same point in Washington.

6.

We hope you will also give prominence to the enormous influx of immigrants from China. Our last estimates (based on changing evasion ratios for illegals who evade arrest and repatriation) are that total arrivals were 100,000 in 1978 and 110,000 in January to June 1979.

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