TNAG-0895-FCO40-1105-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 42

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HKK.24

HKK 243.

GRPS 260

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FM THE HAGUE 310835Z JUL 79

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 204 OF 31 JULY

INFO PRIORITY UKMIS GENEVA, HONG KONG

INFO ROUTINE BRUSSELS, OSLO, PARIS, BONN, COPENHAGEN

1497

see 1503

SAVING WASHINGTON, OTTAWA, BUENOS AIRES, CANBERRA, WELLINGTON, TEL AVIV, ROME, MADRID, BERNE, VIENNA.

YOUR TELNO 355 TO CANBERRA: RESETTLEMENT OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES

FROM HONG KONG

(469

1. I LEFT ON 30 JULY WITH FRASER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, A SPEAKING NOTE BASED ON TUR, UKMIS GENEVA TELNO 363, AND HONG KONG TELNO

1957.

2. FRASER CONFIRMED THAT A DECISION HAD BEEN TAKEN IN PRINCIPLE THAT THE EXTRA 1,000 REFUGEES TO BE ADMITTED TO THE NETHERLANDS SHOULD- ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNHCR - COME FROM MALAYSIA. MALAYSIA HAD BEEN SELECTED IN ORDER TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE ON ASEAN COUNTRIES. THE NETHERLANDS COULD NOT IGNORE THE ADVANTAGES AS CONCERNED TRANSPORT IN ACCEPTING REFUGEES FROM ONE COUNTRY ONLY. I POINTED OUT THAT THE PRESSURE ON HONG KONG WAS EVEN GREATER THAN THAT ON MALAYSIA AND THAT THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS AS REGARDED TRANSPORT FROM HONG KONG,

3. FRASER DID NOT DEMUR, BUT STRESSED THAT THE BEST CHANCE OF SECURING A MODIFICATION OF THE DECISION THAT THE 1,000 EXTRA REFUGEES SHOULD COME FROM MALAYSIA LAY IN A STRONG RECOMMEND- ATION FROM THE UNHCR TO THE NETHERLANDS GOVERNMENT THAT A GIVEN

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FIGURE