TNAG-0971-FCO40-1190-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-the-UK-1980 — Page 149

HKK2432RESTRICTED

2 APR 1980

British Embassy

£28.4

Botlift - Joyo thich are

strued suggest to the Murway

that he passes bin lette

and der Orrs to the Home office?

3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20008

Welex Domestic USA 89-2370/89-2384

bomorusoe

Telex International 64224(WUI)/248308(RCA)/440015(ITT) Telephone (202) 462-1340

K FX Burns Esq

SEAD

FCO

LONDON

Your reference

Our reference

Date

28.4

25-4

Mr. Willyton Juridin

1 Mint I would do. Pi

35

Mr. Burns

discuss wit Mr. Stilt

"disusent

изва

Anja 12.525/1

18 April, 1980

N.L.R.

1.

Dear Kevin,

BOAT REFUGEES IN HONG KONG: THE UK POSITION

I was interested to see a copy of Ian Orr's letter of 10 April to Stitt, reporting on the first quarter of 1980. It is no pleasure to confirm from here the gloomy prognosis in Ian Orr's fourth paragraph about perceptions of the UK effort. Despite the Ambassador's representations to Newsom at the end of February (our telegram No 887, not to all), it is significant that in his testimony to the Senate Sub-Committee on Asian and Pacific Affairs on 24 March (text enclosed for FCO and Hong Kong) about humanitarian relief in SE Asia, Palmieri (US co-ordinator for refugee affairs) made no reference whatsoever either to Hong Kong or the the UK. The greater part of his testimony, as you will see, addressed the problem of refugees from Kampuchea. But in the fairly full section dealing with refugees from Vietnam the absence of the UK from the re-settlement table, which lists the US, France, Canada, Australia and Germany by name, is particularly striking. Although in recent speeches to lay audiences Dick Holbrooke has twice given Hong Kong an honorable mention among countries of first asylum ("We must continue to assist ... or some of them may find themselves cracking under the pressures "), he too has omitted reference to the UK while listing countries such as France, Canada and Australia, among those who have supported the United States' effort.

2. I therefore strongly agree with Ian Orr's line that we shall not get people here to take representations on Hong Kong's behalf seriously unless we can simultaneously convince them that the UK has a record which continues to bear comparison with the best among other major countries of re-settlement.

Yours un

Joh

CC:

PJ Williamson Esq, HK&GD, FCO

UN Dept, FCO

PJ Weston

Research Dept, FE Section, FCO

DR Snoxell Esq, UKMIS Geneva

Chanceries: Canberra, Ottawa, Bonn

Political Adviser Hong Kong

Paris, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore