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or cultural ties with UK; few wish to come here. High unemployment among those resettled in UK: about 80% dependent on social security. Home Office have said they can admit no more beyond those rescued by UK shipping and approx 2,000 still eligible on family reunion basis (mainly under Orderly Departure Programme (ODP) operated by Vietnamese Government in cooperation with UNHCR to facilitate legal departure of those wishing to emigrate). This makes it difficult to persuade other countries to resettle more refugees.
Forcible Repatriation
7. Forcible repatriation to Vietnam of newly arriving boat people would be popular policy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Government raised subject with Lord Belstead in December 1982. Idea of taking it up in Hanoi rejected by Ministers. They considered we were unlikely to get satisfactory assurances from Vietnamese that those returned would not be punished, and that HMG would risk unacceptable
criticism.
Recent Developments
8. In May 1983 we consulted Americans, French, Canadians and
Australians on possibility of multilateral approach to Vietnamese to
urge them to step up the ODP in effort to stem outflow of refugees. Response was lukewarm. In July 1983 we instructed UKMIS Geneva to ask UNHCR's views on trying to obtain guarantees from Vietnamese that returning refugees would not be punished; if they opposed this would they be willing to classify publicly all boat people as refugees? Mr Hartling thought that Vietnamese position might gradually be scftening but that it would be counterproductive to
seek formal assurances now. He would not wish to make a public statement equating refugees and economic migrants lest this frustrate evolution he was hoping for within Vietnam.
Honolulu Conference, 1-3 August 1983
9. US Government invited Canada, Japan, France, Australia and
UNHCR (as observers) to attend Ministerial level meeting to discuss ways of increasing resettlement within South East Asian region.
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