4.
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However, we do not think that the other proposal shall be
pursued. It would be extremely difficult for HMG to justify
publicly. Turning boats out to sea would leave us open to sever
criticism on human rights grounds if there was any risk, as
there would be, to the lives of the refugees. Moreover, in
previous years other regional Governments who resorted to this
attracted widespread criticism; in 1980 we told the Brunei
authorities we could not condone it.
have also recently made representations on this issue to Macao.
We do not, therefore, recommend that this should be further
pursued.
Resettlement opportunities
5.
The Hong Kong Government
Consideration should also be given to ways of increasing
resettlement opportunities for refugees already in countries of first asylum. There are dangers that a major exercise on the
lines of that in 1979 would arouse new expectations, and
stimulate a further exodus from Vietnam. But with over 12,000
refugees still in Hong Kong, we must get resettlement going
again.
6.
We therefore recommend that, in conjunction with our
approach on curbing the outflow from Vietnam, we ask the UNHCR
to explore other solutions for resettlement and continue to
lobby in capitals for Governments to do more for Hong Kong. We
will have to be prepared to make it clear that we do not
envisage HMG being able to take a further quota, and would
defend this on the grounds that the UK has not been a popular
destination and that resettlements here have not always been
successful. In this context, we have considered the possibility
of making a further approach to the Home Office, but believe that this would almost certainly be rejected at this stage.
However, we could revert to this if there were a large influx
into Hong Kong during the summer, and if we could show that we had tried everything else without success.
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