ESSENTIAL FACTS
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
CONFIDENTIAL
W (103)
1.
We shall be submitting to Mr Luce on this subject on 1 July.
The submission contains background information on the situation in
Hong Kong and a summary of recent action and recommends what might
be next done to help Hong Kong.
2.
Mr Luce may find the following additional information useful:
UK Policy On Resettlement
-
Following the Geneva Conference on Refugees in 1979 HMG announced
that they would accept 10,000 boat people from Hong Kong for
resettlement in the UK. To date over 16,000 including dependants
and those rescued by British shipping have been accepted here.
The UK also continues to accept ship rescue and close family reunion cases and others to whom it is committed under the Orderly Departure
Programme (ODP). (The ODP is an arrangement whereby the UNHCR
process applications from people wishing to leave Vietnam for third
countries). However resettlement in the UK has not been
particularly successful. Moreover the Home Office is under constant
pressure to resettle refugees from elsewhere (eg Poland, Iran). Mr
Pym wrote to Mr Whitelaw in February to ask if anything can be done
to alleviate Hong Kong's position. Mr Whitelaw replied that he
could not agree to any further concessions.
Hong Kong Department
30 June 1983
CONFIDENTIAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.