TNAG-1180-FCO40-1482-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 71

(126) in CR 2/4761/78

- 2 -

5th May 1982

5.

From fairly extensive interviewing with new arrivals in Hong Kong we are told that many refugees would not have set out from Vietnam had they realised that resettlement was no longer possible. This adds considerable weight to our belief therefore that the BBC, through the medium of its Overseas Broadcasts in the Vietnamese language, can play a part in helping to stem the flow of refugees at its source by explaining that very few opportunities for resettlement remain; and that at best refugees who leave Vietnam illegally can expect to face the extreme discomfort of an interminable stay in camps in countries of first asylum. The only and proper course for those who wish to leave is through the Orderly Departure Programme.

6.

Could you take this up with the BBC to see if

they can help?

Yous aye

бли

CC:

(J R Heywood)

Deputy Secretary for Security

Robin Masefield (Home Affairs Branch)

Johnnie Johnston (Government Information Services) Helen Yu (HK Government Office)

File CR 2/4821/75