TNAG-0896-FCO40-1106-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 95

CONFIDENTIAL

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TCS Stitt Esq

HKK 243

SEAD

FCO

Dear Stitt

INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES

MOIX

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Ра

1602

PA 22.8.79.

British Embassy Bonn

21 August 1979

#22%

1. As foreshadowed in Bangkok telno 491 (not to all), West German diplomats and relief officials in South East Asia met last week in Bangkok for discussions on the

Indo-Chinese refugee problem. The meeting was attended by the FRG Ambassadors in ASEAN countries and their Consul-General in Hong Kong, together with representatives of three German charities which are closely involved in the relief operation (the Red Cross, Caritas, and Diakonisches Hilfeswerk). Petersen (the under-Secretary in the Auswärtiges Amt with responsibility for Asia) represented the Auswärtiges Amt. The following account of what transpired was given to me by Heymer, the desk officer in the South East Asian Department of the Auswärtiges Amt who is dealing with the refugee problem.

2.

Heymer said that the meeting had agreed that the roots of the refugee problem were political. The West should keep up the pressure on Vietnam to respect Human Rights and to give up their current expansionist policies but it would be important not to drive the Vietnamese so much into a corner that there would be no possibility of some sort of dialogue with them.

3. On relief measures the main points that emerged from the meeting were:

(a) that the FRG should continue to make it clear that

they would in principle be ready to fund development projects designed to help resettle refugees in other LDCs;

(b) that the Federal Government should consider whether

more emphasis should be placed on offering resettlement places for/groups of refugees rather than explicity reserving places for the special categories of refugees (those rescued by FRG ships at sea, family reunion cases and other special groups requested by the Länder) to which priority is currently given. Heyner emphasised that this was at present only a suggestion which would have to be considered by the Auswärtiges Amt and the Federal Ministry of the Interior. There was a body of opinion, in the Auswärtiges Amt at least against changing the current policy;

(c) that UNHCR should be encouraged to contact German

relief organisations if they required staff to help with processing the refugees. Otherwise cooperation

CONFIDENTIAL