TNAG-1184-FCO40-1486-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 100

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

D J Noble Esq STOCKHOLM

Dear Noble,

Telephone 01- 233 5073

PA. (264)

for Burton

Your reference

Our reference

FA 243/1

Date 20 October 1982

HITF 24311

10.

1 1

Af251,0

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG

1. You are probably aware that Hong Kong remains one of the most popular destinations for Vietnamese boat people. Indeed so far this year they have had over 7,000 new arrivals, roughly half of the total for the area as a whole.

2. One reason for this popularity was that until recently boat people arriving in Hong Kong were free to find work while awaiting resettlement. This factor also led to an increasing number emi- grating for economic rather than political reasons. To counter this the Hong Kong Government instituted in July a new policy of confining new arrivals in closed camps where they are forbidden to take outside work. This has brought Hong Kong more into line with other states in the region, but as yet it does not seem to have had any significant effect on the pattern of arrivals.

3.

At the same time changes in American immigration criteria and their declared intention to take fewer refugees this year have made it harder for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to find resettlement places (although the USA is generally the country most Indochinese refugees would prefer to go to). When the wave of emigration was at its peak in 1979 we declared a quota of 10,000 to be taken from Hong Kong. This has now been filled, and what with close relatives allowed in on a family reunification basis, and a number of those rescued by British shipping, our total is now over 16,500 with a further 2,000 close relatives waiting in Vietnam to join their families here under the 'Orderly Departure Programme'. In current circumstances it is difficult to see any possibility of a further quota for Vietnamese refugees - and we have competing demands too from other quarters.

4.

The upshot of all this is that Hong Kong still have more than 13,000 Vietnamese refugees, some 40% of whom have been there for more than two years;

and while it is difficult for us to make a further contribution, we remain concerned to find ways of easing Hong Kong's refugee burden. The Hong Kong Government have been doing their best to identify resettlement opportunities, and were represented last

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