TNAG-1421-FCO40-1904-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1985 — Page 128

N

230

OCMIAN 8608

CONFIDENTIAL

PP TOKYO

FM FCOLN TO TOKYO

221645Z OCT

GRS 632

CONFIDENTIAL

FM FCO

TO PRIORITY TOKYO

TELNO 485

CONFIDENTIAL

OF 221645Z OCTOBER 85

INFO ROUTINE HONG KONG, UKMIS GENEVA

336

Tur

COPI

18608 1

MKK 24 3/2

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

2 4 OCT 1935

DESK CFFICER INDEX

REGISTRY

PA

| Action Taken

loxe

YOUR TELNO 684: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG

1.

KEN WOODHOUSE, A HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO

ATTENDED THE RECENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING OF UNHCR IN

GENEVA AS A MEMBER OF THE UK DELEGATION, HAS ASKED US TO PASS TO

YOU THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT OF HIS DISCUSSION WITH JAPANESE

OFFICIALS AT THE MEETING:

BEGINS.

(I)

(II)

(III)

ALTHOUGH THEY WERE THE FIRST DELEGATION I CONTACTED IN

GENEVA, I WAS UNABLE TO SPEAK TO THE REPRESENTATIVES FROM

JAPAN UNTIL MY LAST AFTERNOON. ON 15 OCTOBER I SPOKE TO

TAKAHIKO HARIMURA, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND REFUGEE

DIVISION AND MASARU ANTATSU FROM THE SAME DIVISION WHICH

IS IN THE UNITED NATIONS BUREAU OF THE MINISTRY OF

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

I EXPLAINED HONG KONG'S POSITION AND HANDED THEM MY

SPEAKING NOTE. IN PARTICULAR, I ASKED ABOUT THE

ADDITIONAL 5,000 REFUGEES WHICH JAPAN HAD ANNOUNCED IT

WOULD TAKE.

HARIMURA SAID THAT JAPAN WAS UNDER PRESSURE FROM ASEAN

COUNTRIES TO HELP WITH THEIR REFUGEE PROBLEMS. IN

PARTICULAR THE THAIS HAD SOUGHT HELP WITH LONG STAYERS.

1.

CONFIDENTIAL