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MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE
[Continued
4. In the view of HMG, the root cause of the exodus of refugees from Vietnam is political and economic repression. We have therefore exerted pressure on the Vietnamese government to face up to the responsibility incurred by them in creating the refugee problem. The institution by the Vietnamese of an Orderly Departure Programme (see para 10 below) represents a certain recognition by the Vietnamese of this principle. Seeking other ways to bring home the message, the Prime Minister stated in the House of Commons on 3 July 1979: "There will be no more aid to Vietnam so long as the present circumstances continue". HMG have also spoken out about human rights abuses in Vietnam eg in this year's Human Rights Commission and have encouraged other UN member states to put political and economic pressure on Vietnam designed to bring about improvements.
Resettlement
5. In January 1979, in response to growing international concern at the plight of Indo- China's refugees, HMG agreed to admit a further 1,500 refugees from Indo-China, in addition to the 300 or so already here. It was decided that, because of our responsibilities for the territory, 1,000 of these should come from Hong Kong. Of the remaining 500, the majority came from camps in Thailand and Malaysia. In the course of 1979 the refugee problem worsened. Nearly 400,000 refugees left Indo-China that year. Over 68,000 of them arrived in Hong Kong by boat. In response to the crisis a special UN Conference was held in Geneva in July 1979. As a result, the UK accepted a further quota of 10,000 refugees; these were exclusively Vietnamese who had found temporary refuge in Hong Kong.
6. But the humanitarian crisis continues. To date Britain has in response taken in over 18,500 Indo-Chinese refugees, making us the sixth largest recipient after the United States, Australia, Canada, France and the FRG. Our contribution to resettlement has nonetheless been regarded as relatively small, measured against the performance of the three major resettlement countries for Vietnamese boat refugees: the United States (which has taken over 358,000 since the initial exodus in early 1975), Australia (over 68,000) and Canada (over 60,000). France and the FRG have taken in over 96,000 and over 22,000 Indo- Chinese respectively.
Ship Rescue
7. 1978 saw mounting international concern about the plight of Vietnamese refugees seeking to leave Vietnam by boat. These refugees often fled in small, unseaworthy craft, and were easy prey for pirates. Many boat people in distress were being rescued by merchant ships including British ships but a means had to be found to facilitate their disembarkation in ports where they would otherwise not be allowed to land. HMG therefore decided in 1978 that boat refugees rescued by ships registered in the UK would normally be accepted for resettlement here if no other country had agreed to take them within 90 days of the rescue. Over 3,000 Vietnamese have been admitted to the UK on this basis.
8. In July this year, the UK agreed to join for a trial period the Rescue At Sea Resettlement Offers (RASRO) scheme designed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to encourage ship rescues of boat people and to spread the flow of refugees evenly between the most suitable resettlement countries. Under the system described in para 7 above, those resettled in the UK often had no family links here. We have accepted a quota of 150 individuals for resettlement in the first year of the new scheme. This will be put into effect when pledges for the planned 4,000 resettlement places have been received. (So far 11 western countries have pledged 2,300 places). We have indicated to UNHCR that our contribution to RASRO relates uniquely to rescues by UK registered vessels and does not include Hong Kong registered British ships.
Family Reunion
9. In addition to the measures described, HMG have also sought to observe the principles of family unity. At first broad criteria were adopted for the admission of relatives from Vietnam but, as the numbers rose, we felt it necessary to apply the same criteria to
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