TNAG-0971-FCO40-1190-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-the-UK-1980 — Page 145

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HKCK 243/2

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

0 2 MAY 1980

DESK OFFICER INDEX

PA

REGISTRY Action Taken

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J2.5

Awels

London SW1A 2AH

1 May 1980

3

Sir Murray MacLehose GBE KCMG KCVO Governor and Commander-in-Chief HONG KONG

Denn Marry,

See 40

4-3

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES : VISIT OF MR POINTON AND MISS DALGLISH

28A)

1.

Thank you for your letter of 14 April about the visit of Mr Pointon and Miss Dalglish.

2.

We have discussed with the Home Office and the JCRV the linked questions of English language teaching and briefing on life and conditions in the UK. The general view is that the learning of English is not the primary factor in encouraging Vietnamese refugees to volunteer to come to Britain. As Mr Pointon and Miss Dalglish acknowledge, the lack of English among refugees has not delayed resettlement. A further point is that the language is much better learnt in the classroom than piecemeal in Hong Kong, particularly since the average stay in transit camps in the territory now appears to have been reduced from 3 weeks to about 8 days.

3. I realise however that there may be some adult refugees who could be encouraged to learn English by themselves. I would have thought that it would be an expensive business to have large stocks of cassettes and books available in the camps. I wonder, however, whether it would be possible to come to an arrangement with the British Council in Hong Kong whereby their 'basic literacy' material, which includes both books and cassettes, could be advertised in the camps and provided on demand. You may like to consider this with the camp organisers.

4.

On the other side of the picture we entirely accept that it is important to keep up a steady flow of material on life in the UK. The Home Office are arranging for two new sets of slides with talk-over taps on this subject to reach Hong Kong by the middle of May. They are also urgently preparing a brochure in Chinese and Vietnamese and the UNHCR have, I under- stand, already produced a short film on the UK which should already be in Hong Kong. This could supplement the material which Mr Pointon is arranging to send.

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