TNAG-1180-FCO40-1482-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 66

布政司署

香港下亞厘畢道

* OUR Ref.: CR 3/3371/79

* Your Ref.:

CONFIDENTIAL

Mr. Williamen (77

R.D. Clift, Esq.

Hong Kong & General Department Foreign & Commonwealth Office London

ENGLAND

Sear such

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

3rd May, 1982

REIN

HKK 2431

YBD. 61

No

18/5

AF18 15:

See 178

Visit to Hong Kong by Mr. William Smyser, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees

Mr. William Smyser, accompanied by Zia Rizvi, visited Hong Kong from 29 April to 2 May. He had a session of talks on 30 April with John Heywood, Ron Bridge, Richard Margolis and myself, after which the Chief Secretary entertained him to lunch, at which Sir S.Y. Chung and Oswald Cheung were also present.

2.

Smyser explained that the general picture on Indo China refugees, and especially Vietnamese refugees was encouraging. The resettlement effort already made was a massive success, and reflected great credit on those who had made it possible. The difficulties which places like Hong Kong were now facing were part of what Smyser called "managing the downside of the problem". Care would be needed to avoid creating a new crisis by hasty action during the winding down process. UNHCR's efforts were now directed at creating a new "psychological atmosphere" in which the desire to leave Vietnam could diminish to match the diminishing opportunities for resettlement. Developments like the expansion of the Orderly Departure scheme from Vietnam and the moves towards repatriation of Lao and Cambodian refugees were helping change the atmosphere. The Vietnamese were being quite cooperative over ODP and a number of people whose boats had been hijacked to Thailand and whose repatriation had been arranged in a few weeks. Smyser and Rizvi believed that there was some hope of securing Vietnamese agreement eventually to voluntary repatriation, although the present Vietnamese position was that it would be contradictory to repatriate while resettlement was still going on since this would encourage illegal departures.

3. I pointed out that, if the overall picture was encouraging, the immediate prospects for Hong Kong were discouraging. From 1st May the United States (the only significant source of resettlement places for Hong Kong's refugees) would take only

CONFIDENTIAL

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