TNAG-1184-FCO40-1486-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 59

CONFIDENTIAL

GR 400

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG 230740Z OCT 82

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 1239 OF 28 OCTOBER

INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON, CANBERRA,

UKMIS GENEVA

274

HKK

PA...

243/1

MIPT.

€73

''BRIEF FOR SIR JACK CATER FOR DISCUSSION WITH THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ON RESETTLEMENT OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG.

THE NUMBER OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES RESETTLED TO AUSTRALIA FROM

HONG KONG SINCE 1975 IS AS FOLLOWS:

1 Af29/10

1975 - 78

218

1979

834

1980

904

1981

500

1982 TO DATE

297

UP TO 20/10

2,753

See(273

278

2. THE CURRENT AVERAGE RATE OF ''OFFTAKE'' IS ABOUT 304 A MONTH.

3. AUSTRALIA HAS ACCEPTED 54,126 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM FIRST ASYLUM COUNTRIES FROM 1975 TO AUGUST 1982, OF WHOM 54 PERCENT CAME FROM MALAYSIA AND ONLY 5 PERCENT FROM HONG KONG. THE AUSTRALIAN COMMISSION HERE HAVE ADVISED US THAT IT IS THEIR POLICY TO ALLOT LARGER QUOTAS TO ASEAN COUNTRIES: HONG KONG, NOT BEING A MEMBER OF ASEAN, IS TREATED LESS FAVOURABLY. AUSTRALIA HAS NO FIXED QUOTA OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FOR HONG KONG. ABOUT 30 REFUGEES DEPART FOR AUSTRALIA EACH MONTH. FOR COMPARISON, AUSTRALIA'S RATE OF OFFTAKE FROM MALAYSIA, WHICH HAS A SIMILAR NUMBER OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES, IS ABOUT 400 PER MONTH.

4. ALTHOUGH THE RATE OF ARRIVAL OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG AFTER THE GENEVA CONFERENCE IN MID-1979 GREATLY REDUCED, IT HAS STABILISED SINCE 1980:-

6,788

IN

1980

8,470

IN

1981

7,488

IN

1982

(UP TO 20.10.82)

WITH THE REDUCTION OF QUOTAS AND THE TIGHTENING OF RESETTLEMENT CRITERIA BY THE USA AND OTHERS, THE REFUGEE POPULATION IN HONG KONG HAS, AFTER 3 YEARS' REDUCTION, BEEN INCREASING (UNDERLINED) SINCE MAY THIS YEAR AS FOLLOWS:

1979 JULY

65,716

1982 APRIL :

9,344

1982 OCT

(20.10.82)

12,702

CONFIDENTIAL

/5. HONG KONG