TNAG-0894-FCO40-1104-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 9

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18 JULY 1979

Vietnamese Refugees that we are re-examining our aid pro- gramme and cutting it. However, the aid programme is so organised that there is always a certain sum set aside for con- tingencies.

Mr. Peter Bottomley: I congratulate the Government for stopping on the Jericho road and not passing by on the other side. I ask the Minister to confirm that the country is not becoming a major terminus for refugees from Indo-China. because other countries are taking many more refugees than we are.

Sir I. Gilmour: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks. I believe that we have taken the right step. He is perfectly right in saying that other countries are taking many more refugees than Britain.

Mr. Ashley: Is not the truth of the matter that it is as politically unpopular now to help refugees from Vietnam as it was to help refugees from Nazi Germany in 1938 and 1939? There were no his- torical grounds for admitting the refugees from Nazi Germany. It is equally a matter of life and death for the Indo- Chinese refugees as it was for the Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. Therefore, should not the Government defy popular prejudice and the National Front by repudiating the National Front's harass- ment and accepting a far larger number than the 10,000 that was announced today? Moreover, should not the Gov- ernment provide those refugees with jobs and housing, in the face of unpopular public opinion?

Sir I. Gilmour: I agree with the hon. Gentleman to some extent, but I do not believe that he is right to sniff at what we are doing. We are making a consider- able contribution and I do not believe that it should be underestimated. I agree that it is something that we should do and that it would be wrong for us not to do it. There is a parallel with previous tragedies of the past, and none of us would want to repeat those.

Mr. Latham : The right hon. Gentle- man is talking about hundreds and thousands of people who have been or are being drowned or murdered by pirates. Is he aware that many hon. Members were deeply regretful to hear the remarks of the right hon. Member for Down, South (Mr. Powell)? There are

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many in the country and on both sides of the House who will give an unreserved welcome to my right hon. Friend's state- ment.

Sir I. Gilmour: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for stating so cloquently what I believe the position to be. Even now, many people in this country are not fully conscious of how desperately serious the position is. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for emphasising the point-which I had failed to do until now—that one of the worst aspects of the problem is the enormously high percentage of refugees who are drowned. Between 40 per cent. to 60 per cent, of those who set out from Vietnam fail to arrive anywhere.

Mr. Weetch: We all welcome the right hon. Gentleman's statement about our response to the problem, but is it not a short-term response? What we need is a more permanent framework of reference. so that when calamities arise, whether natural or man-made, decisions can be taken quickly. In that way we could have avoided some of the humiliating circumstances that have occurred over the past few months.

Sir 1. Gilmour: With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I disagree. I do not believe that it should be taken as being the natural course of events that Govern- ments behave in the way that the Viet- namese Government have behaved over

the past year. It is something that is comparable only to Stalin's extermination of the Kulaks, or Hitler's treatment of the Jews. It is not something that we should reasonably expect to occur in the future. Therefore, talks of a framework are not appropriate in this context.

Mr. Skinner : On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I always thought that it was usual that when an hon. Member was mentioned in dispatches by the Minister concerned the opportunity would be I afforded to him to say a few words. refer to the occasion when I drew the Minister's attention to the fact that the Prime Minister-

Mr. Speaker: Order. I watched care- fully what occurred on that occasion. The hon. Gentleman says that he was men- tioned in dispatches, but that was because he was interrupting continually. I do not consider that to be justification for calling anyone.