CODE 18.77
X
A
RESTRICTED
bu to me
28/3
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NOTE FOR THE FILE : VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
1.
I had lunch last Friday with Mr Segar of SEAD and Jack Landau, the UNHCR representative in London.
2.
)Pla
Mr Landau was not in general particularly sympathetic towards Hong Kong's refugee problems. When, in response to his question, I told him there were about 12,500 Vietnamese refugees currently in Hong Kong, where there is considerable concern that many of these will fail to be resettled, he commented that this number was surely only a fraction of the numbers of illegal immigrants who annually got into Hong Kong from China. I pointed out that the authorities in Hong Kong had the option available of sending back illegal immigrants from China. Mr Landau replied that boat people were different: irrespective of their motives on departure, once they have left Vietnam there is nothing for them to return to and so it is not possible for them to go back. This is not the case with those from China. Boat people, whether or not they are genuine refugees according to the terms of the 1951 Status on the Convention of Refugees, have to be treated as refugees because there is no practical alternative.
3.
In discussion of the 1951 Convention Mr Landau said that it was a matter for individual governments to apply the criteria in deciding whether or not someone was a refugee to be granted asylum. There is obviously an obligation to conform to the provisions of the Convention when applying the criteria. But if an immigrant is adjudged not to be a genuine refugee then UNHCR would have no grounds for objection provided they (and other parties to the Convention) were content that the terms of the Convention were being adhered to. In view of his comments I think it may be worth our while taking a close look at the terms of the Convention to see howit applies to the Vietnamese now reaching Hong Kong.
HKK243/1
R
LIVED IN NES.5(Y NU. AT
10 MAR 1983
MASK OFFICE
INDEX
No
RESTRICTED
PA
/4.
Y
2017/3 CH18/3
10
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