TNAG-0897-FCO40-1107-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 91

UK. A genuine desire to resettle in the UK is seen as a

fundamental requirement for successful resettlement here and

we were therefore content to exclude these people from our consideration. With the assistance of the Hong Kong Immigration Department we later developed the practice of announcing our

arrival in a camp and calling for volunteers for UK resettlement.

Only then did we start to find people, including English speakers, with more promising resettlement prospects. This practice does

not meet with the approval of UNHCR.

12. There is a need therefore for a major programme to educate the

refugees as to the countries in which resettlement from Hong Kong

is available. The Hong Kong Government, in their exasperation,

are planning to take these matters into their own hands to some

extent. Plans are afoot to assign an Immigration Department

official to the special task of resettlement; he would act as a

liaison officer with UNHCR, and would spend the major part of his

time in the UNHCR office. The Government have also asked one of

the local voluntary organisations to introduce a scheme in the

camps designed to inform refugees about the countries offering

resettlement. In addition to this the Governor is seriously

considering the possibility of seconding to the Hong Kong

Immigration Department a boat refugee already resettled in the UK

who could act as interpreter and, at the same time, answer any

day-to-day questions raised by refugees who are interested in UK

resettlement. Once they are fully in operation these schemes

should produce more applicants for UK resettlement which, in turn,

will give us a greater degree of choice on future selection trips.

The rate of intake of refugees from Hong Kong

13. This was a matter upon which we were repeatedly pressed by the

media, by local voluntary organisations involved in camp

When we saw the

management, and by government officials.

Governor on 30 August I told him that the UK target was to clear

the outstanding proportion of the old 1,500 quota (1,000 for

Hong Kong) by the end of September. This would mean moving out

of the Colony some 700 people in the course of the month. Subsequent intakes under the 10,000 quota would be at a rate of about 500 a month during October, November and December.

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