From The Minister of State
Richard Luce MP
116
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
31 January 1985
HKK 040/2
5
Dear Mach.
AT..
In my speech winding up the debate on the Second Reading of the Hong Kong Bill on 21 January, I said that I would write to Members who had raised points to which I did not feel that I had replied. You raised the question of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong, to which I was only able to refer briefly.
We are very much aware of the plight of the 11,900 refugees who are still in Hong Kong. Over the past few years Britain has played a major role in tackling the problem of Indo-Chinese refugees. We have accepted some 19,000 refugees, most of them from Hong Kong, for resettlement here. We also have a continuing international commitment to resettle family reunion and ship rescue cases. We maintain regular contact with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other countries to find permanent solutions for all Indo-Chinese refugees, including those who are at present in Hong Kong. We are most anxious to bring about an early solution of the problem.
to accept
I know that it has been argued that if Britain were a further quota, Canada and the US might respond by increasing their level of resettlement from Hong Kong. It is certainly true that some resettlement countries have said that they would be unwilling to raise their quotas of refugees from Hong Kong until Britain took the lead in accepting more, and this does make it difficult for us to apply pressure on other countries to take more Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong. On the other hand it is unfortunately also the case that no third country has said positively that it will take more refugees if Britain does so. As you no doubt know, the Sub-Committee on Race Relations and Immigration is currently looking at this subject.
Mark Robinson Esq MP
House of Commons
London SW1A OAA
/Questions
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.