TNAG-1068-FCO40-1318-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-the-UK-1981 — Page 109

The visit was therefore divided into two separate parts:

Selection of a further

500 refugees and revision of those previously selected who had so far refused to take up the offer of resettlement in the United Kingdom.

As far as selection is concerned it was immediately apparert that the United Kingdom was not a popular option with the refugees. Orientation sessions were held in the evening prior to our arrival at each camp and were very sparsely attended. 355 names were submitted by UNHCR for consideration and this total included the family reunion cases submitted by us on arrival. 213 refugees came

to see us voluntarily making a total of 568 persons (171 family units) seen. However, of those submitted by UNHCR, 80 had no wish to come to the United Kingdom and requested rejection in order to enhance their prospects of resettlement elsewhere and 70 of the volunteers came for interview merely to request rejection in order to clear their United Nations Record cards prior to submitting applications to a third country. The 385 accepted included a family with a mongoloid child, two families with a deaf-mute child, a man with only one arm, the deaf mother of two children, a mother lame from childhood polio and a mother whose con's acceptance was conditional on his discharge from hospital where he was receiving treatment for depression. Only 18 people were rejected as being totally unsuitable for settlement in the United Kingdom.

557 signed an

641 of the 765 previously selected reported for interview. undertaking that they understood their resettlement position and did not wish to go to the United Kingdom. All had been previously interviewed by a representative of UNHCR and were adamant in their wish to be removed from the United Kingdom programme. Some had genuinely traced relatives to a third country and, in other cases, close relatives had been resettled in a third country since selection. The vast majority (some 70%) expressed interest only in going to the United States and were prepared to wait in Hong Kong for the United States to change their policy and accept them. Two went so far as to express a preference | to return to Vietnam rather than accept the United Kingdom offer. 84 decided that they would go to the United Kingdom and were therefore retained on the accepted list. Some had good reason for not having already travelled (eg awaiting the birth of a child) and others came to this decision after counselling by UNIOR and Mr Denton. 124 persons did not come for interview and have therefore been retained, for the time being, on the United Kingdom programme. It is not known why these 124 (some 169) did not report for interview and come may well have been accepted by a third country, others will have disappeared into the Hong Kong population and still others no doubt merely wish to keep their options open.

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