TNAG-1069-FCO40-1319-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-the-UK-1981 — Page 41

K FX Burns Esq

SEAD

FCO

Dens Kevin

RESTRICTED

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION PO Box 1030, Wisma Damansara Jalan Semantan, KUALA LUMPUR Telephone: 202666

FA 243/19

6 November 1981

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 14 1 6 NOV 1981

-Fk

MALAYSIA

BA

10

M. Neto 11/1

Me. Sutt

Ento Lass NB love 5. волочиль

изри KB

12/4

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES

1. We have read with interest the exchange of correspondence between posts in the region and yourself about Vietnamese refugees. It was helpful to have an analysis of the situation as seen from London and although we found your conclusions discouraging, we agree that they were the only realistic ones to be drawn.

2. Brian Donnelly, in his letter of 11 September, suggested that we should consider positively encouraging countries of first asylum and resettlement to coordinate a policy of reduced resettlement, but we note that you believe that this is as far away as ever. There are already indications that the Malaysians may be considering a hardening of attitude towards the refugees in line with the action already taken by the Thais (Duggin's letter to Stitt of 28 July) which may eventually result in reduced resettlement.

3. Malaysian policy towards Vietnamese refugees is dominated by the possible impact of the influx on the domestic political situation. The main fear is that, at the end of the day, Malaysia will be left with a residue of mainly ethnic Chinese immigrants or other non-Muslims which might adversely affect the fine racial balance and heighten communal tensions. But the Government faces a dilemma. On the one hand it wants resettlement countries to continue to accept refugees so that it is not left with a residue. On the other, it wants to deter refugees from using Malaysia as a country of first asylum. It has therefore had to formulate a policy within the framework of these two conflicting objectives.

4. So far the policy has worked well. At the beginning of January there were 12164 refugees in local camps. By the end of September this number had decreased to 9806. Although the Government may not regard this level as acceptable it finds it tolerable. Despite an official hardline towards refugees none have been turned away from Malaysian shores since late 1979. During the last two months there has been an increase in patrol boat activity off the East Coast but this is a seasonal phenomenon. We believe that the Malaysians still deal with the problem in a reasonably humane way. However they remain concerned at the continuing influx and would like to see it reduced. Furthermore they recognise that the tougher policy introduced by the Thais in July may lead to a net increase in the number of arrivals in Malaysia.

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