E.R.
NOTES FOR SUPPLEMENTARIES
Will the Government agree to support Mr Bradman's proposal to charter a mercy ship, by undertaking to admit any refugees who may be picked up as a result?
We have made it clear throughout that we shall stand by our international obligations under the law of the sea regarding the rescue of those whose lives are in danger on the high seas.
The Government has further decided to give refuge to a further7 10,000 refugees from South East Asia, as this country's contribution to the international effort to relieve this appalling problem. Any who are picked up by British vessels, and for whon! no other country of permanent refuge can be found, would have to be accommodated within that arrangement.
Whether it would be in the best interests of refugees in the region to offer the remote prospect of rescue at sea as an incentive to set out calls for very careful judgement, and in the view of Her Majesty's Government the problem is better dealt with through the international conference to be held at the initiative of the Prime Minister in Geneva at the end of the week.
No comments yet.
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