Governor of Hong Kong to advise that so slow a programme would be very badly taken in Hong Kong and the announcement was accordingly silent about the rate of progress.
3. The position at present is that of the original 1,500 we have so far admitted only some 600. A selection team is at present in Hong Kong choosing families to come to the UK. The aim will be to complete the 1,500 quota as early as possible, preferably by the end of September. A beginning will then be made on the main 10,000 quota, the intention being to admit at the rate of 500 a month in October, November and December. At the moment no plans have been made beyond that. The voluntary organisations assure us that they will be able to handle the numbers contemplated up to the end of the year without too much difficulty, although they will need to open some more centres; they are looking around for these at the moment. We are uncertain how much reliance we can place on these assurances. What is clear is that if the operation continues at the rate of 500 a month the quota will not be completed until more than half way through 1981. There is likely to be pressure from Hong Kong and UNHCR to do much better ie more quickly than this. We are already receiving representations from the voluntary organisations and others that the government should ensure that the admission of the whole of the quota is completed by the middle of 1980 at the latest and that the government should actively assist in providing the means for doing so. It is difficult to predict what decisions will be taken about the rate of flow, particularly since this depends on the reception and resettlement provision that can be made. The most that can be said at the moment is that we doubt whether it would be politically practicable to lave the operation running well into 1981. On the other hand, it may be equally politically impracticable to undertake the much more substantial kind of provision which will be necessary to admit all 10,000 by the middle of 1980. There may also be physical constraints on such a programme.
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One of the most important constraints is the ability with which refugees can be moved from reception centres into permanent accommodation. This will depend mainly on the accommodation offers that are received. Other factors will be the ability of the various statutory services and voluntary organisations to handle employment, education, health and other resettlement problems. What is clear is that the scale of the problem facing us will require adequate machinery for the purpose of planning and co-ordinating the operation.
5. Unfortunately the way this operation has developed so far has, if anything, magnified the problem rather than making it any easier. The intervention of Ockenden and Save the Children Fund has meant that the operational side has been the responsibility of three separate organisations acting virtually independently and individually jealous of their autonomy. In principle, BCAR is still the co-ordinating organisation and we have endeavoured to maintain this. In practice, however, relations between the three organisations are not as close as we would wish; and they are sometimes strained by personality clashes. There is also some evidence that the major voluntary organisations, particularly WRVS, have the gravest doubts about the capacity of these three organisations to handle what will be needed, and for that reason and possibly others are hesitant to become too closely associated with the arrangements in their present form. The voluntary refugee organisations for their part, notably the Standing Conference on Refugees whose relations with BCAR are not of the easiest - have been making representations about the need for strengthening the co-ordination arrangements at central and local government level. These representations have been linked with their pressure for the rate of entry of the refugees to be very substantially speeded up.
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