TNAG-0971-FCO40-1190-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-the-UK-1980 — Page 223

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CONFIDENTIAL

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UND

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

NKK 243/2 London SW1A 2AHAM 21/1

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INDEX

REGISTRY NO. 51

0 7 MAR 1980

REGISTRY Action Taken

PA

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97.3 AW 10/2

20 February 1989 272

1 Mw Quarchill

2 hr bess

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Miam 21.2

P J Woodfield Esq CB CRE

Home Office

Queen Anne's Gate

LONDON SW 1

See

Dear Philip

1.

I enclose a copy of a letter to John Fretwell in Washington recording the call made on me on 14 February by the new US coordinator for refugees affairs, Victor Palmieri.

You will note:-

2.

a) the assumption that there will be an increase in the outflow of boat refugees as the year goes on, and

b) the link which he drew between our own rate of offtake from Hong Kong, and the level at which the US programme could be set.

I know that you share our concern about the bottleneck which has emerged in the process of getting refugees out of the reception centres into their resettlement locations and which will mean falling well short of the first quarter's target of 2,600 departures from Hong Kong. Palmieri's comment under- lines the importance of keeping the flow moving. It became clear from our conversation that the American reception and resettlement process is more rapid and less sophisticated than ours, and that the refugees are placed in society at a much earlier stage. Could one of our problems be that, as Palmieri said in another context, we are perhaps doing too well, and that those at the reception centres are seeking an unrealistically high level of 'fit' before releasing a family?

Jours sincerely

CONFIDENTIAL

HAH Cortazzi