TNAG-0974-FCO40-1193-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-other--1980 — Page 178

CONFIDENTIAL

25A

FROM THE AMBASSADOR

HKK 24315 НСК

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51

19 MAR 1980

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

Mo

HA H Cortazzi Esq CMG Deputy Under Secretary Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Dear Hugh.

PA

J25.3

Enter

VIETNAMESE BOAT REFUGEES IN HONG KONG

(23)

REGISTRY

Action Taken

Aw2tk

BRITISH EMBASSY,

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20008

TELEPHONE: (202) 462-1340

13 March 1980

лин Copy

To Ar Mururay

Mr Burns

1. In my telegram number 887 I reported that I had spoken to David Newsom about the US off-take of Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong. He has now written (copy enclosed) to say that when the current construction work at Bataan Refugee Processing Centre (RPC) is completed, "by the end of May", the US will be able to ensure that the rate of off-take from Hong Kong will be increased so as to obtain an average of 2,000 per month in the December 1979 to May 1980 period.

2.

12/i.i

This is a welcome assurance which will be of value in further contacts with the Americans. But I ought to mention that we have heard that the Refugee Programme is one of the items under review in the current exercise to find Public Expenditure savings which the President is expected to announce shortly. State Department officials dealing with the Programme are putting a brave face on it, saying that the humanitarian arguments will prove too much for the expenditure pruners and that they will escape with only a little belt tightening. But any serious cuts could have an effect on the numbers of refugees resettled in the US or moved to the RPC.

This ever,

ен

Johar

Nicho

Nicholas Henderson

Copy to:

Sir Murray MacLehose GBE KCMG KCVO, HONG KONG HE Mr P H R Marshall CMG, UKMIS GENEVA

CONFIDENTIAL