TNAG-1185-FCO40-1487-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 137

SECTION 3 LESSONS FROM THE VIETNAMESE PROGRAMME OF RELEVANCE FOR ANY

FUTURE RECEPTION AND SETTLEMENT PROGRAMME

21.

While our prime concern is for the future of the Vietnamese in our country we are concerned also that our experience with the Vietnamese should be made use of in framing policy for any future large-scale refugee intake where organised reception and settlement is required. We wish therefore to draw attention to a number of features of our reception and settlement efforts and the conclusions which we have drawn from them.

Central Organisation

22. It might have been thought that with such a large programme a special, and much larger, central organisation, of the kind which was created to deal with the refugees from Uganda, should have been set up. We welcome the Government's decision not to proceed in this way; their confidence in the ability of the voluntary agencies to manage a programme of this size has not only certainly strengthened the agencies themselves, but additionally it has permitted Government to capitalise on the agencies' particular ability not only to mobilise voluntary effort throughout the country but also to obtain a degree of co-operation from statutory and other bodies at local level which, we venture, any more centralised organisation would have found it difficult to obtain. We attach particular importance to the success which the agencies have achieved in this area and we would wish to record our gratitude for and appreciation of the co-operation which has been given us by many local authoritics and individual members of their staff; by members of housing associations and private trusts; and not at all least by those who make up the support groups across the country who have shown themselves indefatigable in their efforts on behalf of the Vietnamese.

23. The Home Office research study to which we referred in our introduction suggests that it might have been better if the Joint Committee had "played a more prominent and direct part in the running of the programme rather than simply act as a meeting place for general policy discussion". The author of the report recognises that this would have required greater resources.

We agree that if, on any future occasion, more resources could be made available, the central organisation could do valuable work in collecting and disseminating information, provided that this would not interfere with the management responsibilities of the agencies. We regard this, however, as a matter which would need to be determined in the light of the capacity of the agencies at the time when the need for a new programme arose.

24. If the need should arise for another refugee programme on a comparable scale, a similar form of central organisation would, in our view, be the best way of dealing with it. The contribution made by staff seconded from Government departments could, however, be made even more effective if it were possible to ensure a greater continuity in staffing and if there could be some involvement of staff from other Government departments in addition to the Home Office, particularly the Department of Education and Science, Department of Health and Social Security, Department of the Environment and Department of Employment/Manpower Services Commission. A large influx of refugees will create long-term problems for these departments and it would be valuable if they were concerned with these more closely from the beginning of the programme.

Selection

25.

While the arrangements made for the selection of refugees from Hong Kong

5.