TNAG-1182-FCO40-1484-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 35

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VIETNAMESE REFUGEES : MV HUPEH AND MV PO YANG

1.

In view of the likely pressure on the Prime Minister over Vietnamese refugees, Mr Clift should be aware of the cases of the MV Hupeh and the MV Po Yang.

2.

The MV Hupeh, Hong Kong-registered, reached Manila on 10 July 1980 with 115 Vietnamese rescued at sea. To facilitate disembarkation, we sought Hong Kong's confirmation that we would issue on their behalf a resettlement guarantee: ie, that the Hong Kong Government would be responsible for resettling any refugees whom the UNHCR could not resettle elsewhere. Hong Kong took the line that while they would not wish to commit themselves to resettlement in Hong Kong they were prepared to allow any refugees who had not been resettled from the Philippines 'within a reasonable period' to go to a UNHCR camp in Hong Kong 'to continue to pursue their resettlement opportunities'. The UNHCR officer in Manila wrote to our Embassy in March this year to say that 15 of the refugees were still at the camp at Palawan with no offers of resettlement, and could they be taken by Họng Kong or UK?

3.

The MV Po Yang, also Hong Kong-registered, arrived at Hong Kong on 2 July last year with 42 rescued refugees. UNHCR registered them straight away, submitting 2 to Canada, 10 to USA for resettlement, and asking to Hong Kong to request us to take the other 30. At the time we refused to accept them. Although refugees rescued by boat were being counted against our as yet unfilled quota of 10,000 from Hong Kong, we considered they should for the moment be left to take the same chances for selection in the UK quota as any other refugee in Hong Kong. The position does not seem to have been firmly established with Hong Kong, though the 30 residual refugees from the Po Yang stayed there.

4.

The Secretary for Security wrote to Mr Clift on 28 May asking to approach the Home Office with a view to securing a promise of resettlement in the UK for the remaining refugees from MV Hupeh and MV Po Yang. Mr Segar of SEAD subsequently wrote to the Home Office on the lines suggested by Hong Kong.

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