TNAG-1418-FCO40-1901-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1985 — Page 164

PS/Mr Luce

? CONFIDENTIAL

MKK 243/2

RECEIVE. vd kul

2 APR 900

INDE

JH2ABG

53

Float

FROM:

A C GALSWORTHY,

HKD

DATE:

19 April 1985

Cc:

Private Secretary

Sir W Harding

Dr Wilson

Mr Hartland-Swann,

Mr Lever, UND

Mr Bacon,

SEAD

Parliamentary Unit

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG: SUB-COMMITTEE ON RACE RELATIONS

AND IMMIGRATION (SCORRI) REPORT

At our meeting yesterday we agreed that

agreed that I should set Out Our

initial views on the recommendations the SCORRI report, and on

1.

in

how we should respond to Parliament. I have submitted separately a

paper recommending a general policy on the question of Vietnamese

refugees in Hong Kong.

"Vietnamese Refugees in Hong Kong",

2.

Only Part I of the report,

is of direct concern to us. In general it conveys a fair view of

the problem and gives due weight to the arguments which we

in

presented

our oral and written evidence to the Sub-Committee. It

recognises the burden which Hong Kong faces and the territory's

record as a place of first asylum. The recommendations, with the

exception of that on

closed camps, are mainly helpful from Hong

Kong's point of view. The report's main shortcoming is that it does

not really address the root cause of the problem, namely how to stem

the outflow of boat people from Vietnam.

3. We have the following more detailed comments on Part I of the

CONFIDENTIAL