TNAG-0898-FCO40-1108-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 104

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19 October 1979

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Mr. Cortagzi JH.KED

UND.

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: PUBLIC EXPENDITURE IMPLICATIONS 1979/80

We spoke about this last Friday and I am now writing to put the latest developments on record. (I have agreed the terms of this letter with Dennis Peach.)

24/20

The arrivals of refugees and the current state of our commitments is not, I am afraid, entirely easy to summarise. The last Government agreed to take 500 from Malaysia and Thailand and 1,000 from Hong Kong. These (a few medical and other cases apart) should all have arrived by the end of October. The 1,250 or so rescued by the "Sibonga" and the "Roachbank" are now all here (save some more negligible exceptions). We have agreed with the Governor of Hong Kong that we will also take 1,500 from the Colony from the 10,000 quota agreed at Geneva in July between now and the end of December. There are also 100 or so rescued by other British boats and landed at Singapore most of whom have arrived or are expected within the next few months. This amounts to some 4,250 to 4,500 in all. We must regard public faith as having been pledged to completing this programme as a minimum.

When the Home Secretary wrote to the Chief Secretary on 14 September, to ask for policy agreement to paying the extra education costs falling on local authorities with reception centres, he indicated that he would need to seek a supplementary estimate to cover the extra cost in this financial year arising from these commitments. An estimate was then hazarded of £0.5m-£lm. I am afraid that, partly because of a misunderstanding, but mainly because of the absence of adequate data at that time on which to base any reliable calculations, that estimate was defective. Even in the short time since then it has become clear that this will be insufficient to meet our existing obligations on the rate of intake of the refugees during the rest of this financial year. The figure quoted in the Home Secretary's letter of 14 September was very much (as you know from earlier discussions) a rough estimate, the best we could make at that time; the additional information we have received since then about the costs, in particular, of running the large camps, shows that more is needed. I am sorry if we have misled you.

We now estimate, that we will need at current prices at least £3.5m in 1979/80 to meet the cost of the minimum obligations referred to above. David Butler is aware of the rough breakdown of this figure. A large proportion is for financial assistance to local education authorities, and the costs of running the larger reception centres.

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