TNAG-0895-FCO40-1105-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 286

Finally, may I ask the rh G whether the Govt

have in hand any arrangements to ease and facilitate the

reception of the 10,000 refugees who are to come to this island?

and noble

If so, will his r h/F be prepared to make a statement at the

appropriate time?

SIR I. GILMOUR:

GIL

As he says,

this

is our immediate

I am grateful to the rh G for welcoming my statement and condemning the callous behaviour

of the Vietnamese Govt. response but, as he well knows, we have considerable problems in this country. We are an overcrowded island. responded to the request that was made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and it would be unreasonable to expect us to make further undertakings at present.

problem

We have

Lapart from the bout people)

The rh G is right to say that there is a considerable

"foot people.

we hope het

concerning what he calls the

It will be dealt with

by the Geneva

Yonference, which we have been instrumental in setting up.

He will be interested to know that we have raised, with our

E queste o

partners in the Community, what should be done about providing food relief for the refugees in South-East Asia.

food relief for the refugees

The Community,

before making further decisions, has agreed to make available 8,000 tonnes of rice and 1,500 tonnes of skimmed milk as

emergency aid.