TNAG-1276-FCO40-1626-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 224

布政司署

SECURITY BRANCH

(91)

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

港下亞畢道

*** Our Ref : (76) in SCR 12/4821/79 V

22 July 1983

來函擋號 YOUR REF:

Tel. No.

5-271772

Miss brother.

Thank

Richard Hoare, Esq.,

Hong Kong & General Department,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London SW1A 2AH

Der Richardl

Vietnamese Refugees

(46)

1

pa Resellerhes

HKK 243/2

RECEIVED IN HE ISTRY

2 8 JUL 1983

DESK OFFICE? INDEX

PA

REGISTRY

Ackon Taken

Following up on Alan Mason's letter to you of 24 March concerning the Australian "offtake" from Hong Kong, you will wish to know that at their request David Wheen and Peter Fraser (First Secretary at the Australian Commission) saw Richard Margolis and myself on 15 July. They gave us copies of the speech by the Australian Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs in Parliament on 18 May 1983, and a subsequent aide- memoire on the Australian Refugee Programme for 1983/84 which amplified the Minister's statement. These sprang no surprises, but gave us the gratifying news that Australia's offtake for 1983/84 will (barring unforeseen events) maintain its current level, i.e. about 70 - 80 per month. We thanked Messrs Wheen and Fraser for Australia's continuing help - in the first half of 1983 they have taken 561 of our VRS, second only to the Americans' 911.

/2.