TNAG-1392-FCO40-1864-Future-of-Hong-Kong-briefing-for-meetings-and-visits-1985 — Page 180

C

CONFIDENTIAL

treatment of those

situation

avenue

returned,

in

but

that the seriousness of the

(Our

defence

all

the

in the camp s

Hong Kong obliges us to explore every

for reducing the problem.

would be

stronger if we were then doing all we could to take refugees for

resettlement in the UK).

16. Improved Training Facilities

Any

scheme

which makes refugees more

to acceptable

resettlement

countries is obviously useful. Much is already being done in this

respect, and the Hong Kong Government are considering further means

to provide

refugees with

encouraged to

this pursue

appropriate

skills.

They should

question vigorously with

UNHCR.

be

This

would fit in well with the SCORRI recommendations.

18 April 1985

Гребельний попу

A C Galsworthy

Hong Kong Department

1. This is an appalling problem. It will not simply go away. We therefore have to face some hard decisions.

2. I agree broadly with the Department's recommendations. Although there will doubtless be a difficult argument with the Home Office, the recommendation on increasing the UK intake and then using this to persuade other countries to take more is uncontroversial. The SCORRI Report gives us just the sort of starting point we needed. Also uncontroversial are the recommendations made about improved training and the possible use of the processing centre at Bataan.

3. Clearly the decision on whether to talk to the Vietnamese about possible involuntary repatriation is much harder. We should anticipate considerable criticism in Parliament and elsewhere if news of such discussions leaked. We must, I think, assume that they would leak. Nevertheless, I think this is now an approach we must attempt. It

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/would

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