TNAG-0971-FCO40-1190-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-the-UK-1980 — Page 41

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1. The Home Secretary wrote to the Secretary of State on 15 November

following his talk with the Governor about a new UK resettlement quota

for Vietnamese refugees.

Recommendation

2. I recommend that the Secretary of State replies to Mr Whitelaw on

the lines of the attached draft. The Hong Kong Government have been

consulted. I also recommend that a telegram on the lines of the

attached draft be sent to the Governor. SEAD and UND concur.

Background and Argument

3.

The Home Secretary wrote to Lord Carrington on 15 November follow-

ing his meeting with the Governor on 6 November (a copy of the record

of the meeting is attached). It followed very much the line anticipated

during the earlier meeting which the Secretary of State had with the

Governor on 5 November.

4.

The consensus of these meetings was that it would be very difficult

to obtain Cabinet agreement to a further quota for Hong Kong but the

case for one should be made nearer the time of completion of the

existing quota. It would only then be possible to argue with conviction

that, unless there was to be a further UK quota, other resettlement

countries, particularly the US, would not renew their own programmes.

The Governor was also very anxious that there should not be a negative

response now because of the immediate effect this could have on these

other programmes.

CONFIDENTIAL

/5.