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18 JULY 1979

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[Sir I. Gilmour.] behaviour of the Vietnamese Govern- ment. As he says, this is our immediate response but, as he well knows, we have considerable problems in this country. We are an overcrowded island. We have responded to the request that was made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and it would be unreason- able to expect us to make further under- takings at present.

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that apart from the boat people there is a considerable problem concerning what he calls the "foot people ". We hope that it will be dealt with by the Geneva conference, which we have been instrumental in setting up. He will be interested to know that we have raised, with our partners in the Community, the question of what should be done about providing food relief for the refugees in South-East Asia. The Community, before making further decisions, has agreed to make available 8,000 tonnes of rice and 1,500 tonnes of skimmed milk as emer- gency aid.

On the right hon. Gentleman's last point, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has arrangements ready. If nec essary, at the right time he will make a statement on the subject.

Sir Paul Bryan: Is the Lord Privy Seal aware that the people of Hong Kong will be grateful for the Government's new gesture and for any further pledges that may be made at the Geneva confer- ence tomorrow? Will he ask the Foreign Secretary when he is at that conference to do his utmost to see that Hong Kong gets its fair share of the sum of those pledges? Is my right hon. Friend further aware that over the past six months Mal- aysia has had 40 per cent. of its intake of refugees resettled, whereas Hong Kong, with 65,000 refugees in its camps, has had only 8.5 per cent. accepted for re- settlement? Is that not discrimination in favour of inhumanity? No boats cram- med with refugees have been towed out to sea from Hong Kong.

Sir I. Gilmour: I have a great deal of sympathy with what my hon. Friend says. There is no doubt that the Hong Kong Government have behaved in an exemp- lary fashion. I am hopeful and confident that what we have agreed to do will set an example to other countries in the inter-

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national community to help Hong Kong. As my hon. Friend knows, the situation there is growing more grave daily. There are still thousands of refugees arriving. It is imperative that as a result of the Geneva conference other countries should agree to help Hong Kong with the appal- ling problem with which it is faced.

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Mr. J. Enoch Powell: What possible grounds can there be, moral, political, historical or ethnic, for the admission to this country-[Hon. Members: Shame, shame."of large numbers of persons from Indo-China-a country with which we have no connections and towards which we have no obligations?

Sir 1. Gilmour: There are moral, his- torical and ethnical reasons for doing what we have done. The right hon. Mem- ber for Down, South (Mr. Powell) seems to be ignoring the appalling tragedy that is now being enacted in South-East Asia. It is something that has not happened on such a scale for 30 years. For us to ignore it, sit back and pretend that it is not happening, and to pretend that whatever happens elsewhere in the world is nothing to do with us, would be totally wrong and entirely contrary to the ethical and political traditions of this country.

Mr. Grimond: Is the Minister aware that his statement will give almost univer. sal satisfaction? Is he also aware that we owe some obligation to people as human beings, even if they are a different colour and their misfortunes are not our fault? Can he say whether the inter- national community, through the United Nations, has succeeded in bringing pres sure to bear in Vietnam to stop this callous behaviour? Also, can he tell us whether there are still refugees pouring into Hong Kong and has any direct aid been given to the voluntary societies to deal with this problem? I understand that £5 million of overseas aid has been given to Hong Kong, but is there any aid for the voluntary societies themselves?

Sir I. Gilmour: It is true that the £S million is abroad, but some effect on public funds will be felt as a result of the reception of refugees in this country. I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentle man's remarks at the beginning of his question. This is a major humanitarian problem. We are, after all, part of the human race and we cannot stand aside.