TNAG-1185-FCO40-1487-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 141

36. In the light of these considerations homes have been established with support from Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Security by both Save the Children Fund and Ockenden Venture to provide group support for the children. The aim is to create a Vietnamese atmosphere in which the children can feel secure, while they also receive education in English culture and customs and are able to attend local schools and so mix with native children. Experience so far confirms that this way of providing for the children is appropriate and the agencies believe that any local authority, which finds it necessary to take Vietnamese children into care could, with advantage, use the homes they provide or at least copy their model.

37. How long this special provision for unaccompanied children will be needed will depend on the arrival and settlement of their relatives or the finding of some other settlement solution. The issue of entry visas by the Home Office for some of these relatives has, in fact, proved to be a problem in some cases and we refer to this in Section 4.

38. One question which is so far unresolved is the exact status of the unaccompanied children and of the refugee agencies who care for them. While it appears clear that when voluntary agencies have themselves sponsored the entry of a juvenile to this country they are responsible for the provision of accommodation and maintenance 'in loco parentis', the position is less clear when, as in this case, they have received the children, acting as agents in a Government scheme. There have been occasions during the reception stage when the provision made by the agencies for the children has been questioned and where it would have helped to be clear at law about the agencies responsibilities and rights. We are aware of section 64 of the Child Care Act 1980 which relates to the transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations. We are not sure, however, whether this section which recognises abandonment as a criterion for the transfer of parental responsibilities can be regarded as entirely relevant when the children remain in communication with their parents and the expectation is that some day they will join them. Our doubts have been represented to the Home Office and to the Department of Health and Social Security and we hope that in discussion they can be clarified. The opportunity of these discussions should be used also to establish a Government-confirmed code of practice for the treatment of unaccompanied minors in this country.

Settlement

39. In Section 4 we deal with the continuing needs of the Vietnamese in settlement. How we cope with these will provide lessons for any future refugee intakes. At this stage, however, we wish to draw attention to two particular aspects of the settlement policy.

(i) Securing housing

40.

At various stages, and increasingly towards the end of the programme, housing has proved extremely difficult to obtain. The initial response from local authorities and housing associations to the housing needs of the Vietnamese was dramatic and generous. Inevitably offers have dwindled, however, and special approaches had to be made by Government and by the Joint Committee to local authorities and housing associations seeking their further co- operation. Since then the programme has been dependent for the finding of accommodation on the efforts of the agencies through the expertise and

9.