TNAG-1181-FCO40-1483-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 166

布政司署

香港下亞畢道

* OUR Ref : (77) in CR 56/4821/79

* YOUR REF, VR/HK

Mrs Helen C P Lai YU

Assistant Commissioner

Hong Kong Government Office

6 Grafton Street London W1X 3LB

England

RaR

Security Branch

چنین

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

11th May 1982

HKK 24311

RECOVOS

Y NO. $1

90

Dear Helm,

INDEX

८५६

No

STRY

mon Takun

3/6/AP3/0

Exe

In your letter to Bim Davies of 14th April 1982 reference VR/HK you raised the question of family reunion criteria for refugees from Hong Kong. You also sent on the 26th & 27th April some details of family reunion cases which have been the subject of correspondence in the UK.

2.

If there is scope for a more liberal approach to family reunion cases on the part of the Home Office, and for its application to refugees in Hong Kong, we would welcome it. I am therefore copying this letter to Patrick Williamson with the request that he take this up with the Home Office on our behalf.

3.

I presume that we are talking about a relaxation from the present "spouse/minor children" criteria to the more liberal "spouse/children/parents/uncle/niece/nephew/ cousin" criteria. You may know that this more liberal criteria was introduced for the tail-end of the UK quota (Home Office letter IMG/79 58/1028/110 dated 7th May 1981 from Spence to Chadderton refers).

4.

It is of course very difficult to produce any meaningful estimate of the affect such a change would have. Since we have already used the liberal criteria to fill up the balance of the UK quota it is unlikely that there will be many more refugees who would qualify for consideration, but on the basis that every little helps we would welcome such a step should the Home Office feel able to respond favourably. Perhaps more important, we would not have to hang our heads in embarrassment when asked, as we frequently are, what is the UK doing about your refugee problem at present.

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