Parliamentary Unit
cc Sir E Youde
Mr Donald SEAD
CONFIDENTIAL
(116
Hkk 243/2
23 DFC 1981
DESK OFFICES POEX
PA
No
2535/12 23/7/2
See
ORAL PQ HONG KONG : VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
I submit a draft reply, notes for supplementaries and
background to the PQ by Sir Anthony Royle MP for reply on
1.
16 December.
The draft reply and supplementaries have been
cleared with the Hong Kong Government and, where appropriate,
with the Home Office. SEAD agree.
2.
The replies to the Question and suggested supplementaries
not be extended.
are straightforward except that concerning the UK quota of 10,000
refugees for settlement in this country. This quota has been
exhausted with only some 200 still in Hong Kong waiting to come
here. The Hong Kong Government are concerned that the quota will
They believe that the Americans, on whom they
depend for the largest share of the offtake, may use HMG's lack of
a programme of resettlement as an excuse for reducing their own.
An extension of the UK quota has been considered very carefully
but the Home Secretary told the Governor in the summer that it was
politically impossible and Mr Ridley told him, with the Secretary
of State agreeing, that the only hope would be if a major crisis
made it clear that urgent humanitarian action was necessary.
This has not yet happened.
3. We were about to submit to the LPS on this, recommending
that he should confirm to the Governor that nothing could be done.
The latter, however, asked that we take no action until he had
/time
CONFIDENTIAL
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