TNAG-1423-FCO40-1906-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 53

From The Minister of State

Richard Luce MP

Pa

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

Su)

22 February 1985

HICK 24.315

RECEIVED IN AQUISTRY

2 SFER 125

CRY

Lean hukos,

он

Thank you for your letter of 8 February to Geoffrey Howe enclosing a petition about Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong from Refugee Action Sheffield. As Minister of State with responsibility for the Far East, I have been asked to reply.

The main question addressed in the petition, that of admission to the UK of refugees with close relatives here, falls within the responsibility of the Home Office. I am therefore sending the petition, and a copy of our correspondence, to David Waddington to enable him to comment.

I would however like to make a few general points about the refugee situation in Hong Kong, and in particular about the Hong Kong Government's closed centre policy. This must be seen within the context of the enormous refugee burden that Hong Kong has shouldered in recent years. More than half a million people have left Vietnam by boat since 1975 and of these over 100,000 have arrived in Hong Kong. Although it is one of the most densely populated places in the world, Hong Kong has turned none away: all have been given temporary asylum pending resettlement. Hong Kong has also accepted 14,000 displaced Indo-Chinese for permanent settlement.

For the first few years the rate of resettlement from the refugee centres in HongKong was satisfactory but by 1982 it had fallen considerably while large numbers of boat people continued to arrive. As a result the number in Hong Kong began to rise and their prospects of resettlement grew worse.

Richard Caborn Esq MP

House of Commons

London SW1A OAA

cc: David Waddington Esq QC MP

Home Office

50 Queen Anne's Gate

SW1H 9AT

/Against this