00 HÙNG KONG
GRS 199
RESTRICTED
943 HKIL 3451.
DAVID IN REGISTRY NO. 15 NOV 1979
1854
10950 - 1
RESTRICTED
FROM FCO 1315102 NOV 79
TO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG
› TELEGRAM NUMBER 942 OF 13 NOVEMBER
THIRD COMMITTEE: ITEM 83 REFUGEES
1. FCO TELNO 796 TO UKMIS NEW YORK REFERS.
2. FOLLOWING IS EXTRACT FROM DRAFT NOTES FOR UK SPEECH DEALING
SPECIFICALLY WITH HONG KONG.
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAS A PARTICULAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR HONG
KONG. OF THE 180,000 BOAT PEOPLE STILL AWAITING RESETTLEMENT ON
30 SEPTEMBER, OVER A THIRD WERE IN HONG KONG, THE SMALLEST AND
MOST DENSELY POPULATED OF ALL THE PLACES OF FIRST ASYLUM. OVER
7,000 BOAT REFUGEES HAVE REACHED HONG KONG SINCE GENEVA: LESS
THAN 16,000 LEFT FOR FINAL RESETTLEMENT IN THE FIRST TEN MONTHS
OF 1979. OVER 62,000 STILL AWAIT RESETTLEMENT THERE, AND IN
SPITE OF THE BURDEN IMPOSED, THE GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG HAS
TURNED NONE AWAY. WE HOPE THAT THE COMING MONTHS WILL SHOW A
BREAKTHROUGH IN THE NUMBERS OF REFUGEES LEAVING HONG KONG: SO FAR
THEY HAVE ONLY STABILISED, AND AT PRESENT RATES OF RESETTLEMENT,
MANY REFUGEES WILL HAVE TO STAY IN CAMPS THERE FOR ANOTHER TWO
YEARS CK MORE. HONG KONG'S HUMANITARIAN RECORD IS UNPARALLELED:
IT SHOULD RECEIVE A FULL SHARE OF THE RESETTLEMENT PLACES
AVAILABLE.'
3.
FULL TEXT FOLLOWS BY BAG.
CARRINGTON
FILES
UND
SEAD
HKO GD PSIMR HURD PS|MR BLAKER MR MURRAY
MR CORTAZZI
LORD.N.G-LENNOX
1
RESTRICTED
X
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