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Refugees:
[LORD TREFGARNE.]
[LORDS]
Inquiries outside the department are often necessary and in the great majority of cases an in-depth interview is undertaken. The continuing high level of asylum applications over 3,500 in 1983 compared with some 1,500 in 1979-when combined with the continuing unsettled and unpredictable nature of world events has regrettably given rise to some delays. Our objective is to reduce the number of cases under consideration. To this end steps have already been taken to increase the strength of the Home Office Refugee Unit.
The noble Viscount, Lord Buckmaster, also asked about further consideration for reuniting refugee families, our policy towards Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong who have relatives in this country and whether a more liberal policy might encourage other community countries to follow our lead.]
The United Kingdom already acknowledges its obligations towards the spouse and minor dependent children of refugees in this country and those Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong who fall into that category are admitted to this country. Applications from other relatives are considered in the light of the particular circumstances of their cases and against the background of the provisions of the immigration rules. Admission can
there be granted where circumstances of a particularly unusual and compelling compassionate nature beyond that generally experienced by Vietnamese seeking reunion. I think that that partially answers the point put to me by the noble Lord, Lord Chitnis, but I shall return to his remarks in a moment.
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The existence of almost 19,000 Vietnamese refugees in the United Kingdom and our continuing commitments represent very substantial efforts to help these refugees. Only a few of the many other nationalities who seek refuge in the United Kingdom come close to benefitting to the same degree in a comparable period of time. Nevertheless, we recognise our responsibility for Hong Kong and have a particu- lar concern to resolve the problems of Vietnamese refugees there. The fact that well over half the Vietnamese refugees in this country have been taken from Hong Kong is recognition of that. My honourable friend the Minister of State at the Home Office has recently informed the British Refugee Council that he is willing to look again at certain cases which have previously been refused, but where there are arguments for reversing that decision.
I should now like to turn to some of the other points that have been made during the course of this debate, and I shall come in a moment to the items raised by the noble Lord, Lord Chitnis. The noble Lord, Lord McNair, mentioned the need to have an early warning system for refugee disasters. These disasters are of course so often caused by sudden political crises, wars or revolutions which are difficult to foresee. But I accept that prevention is better than cure in this and other fields.
The noble Baroness, Lady Ewart-Biggs, referred to the work of UNICEF. I, too, should like to pay tribute to their work. Indeed, the Government have given them £1 million in this financial year. The noble Baroness also referred to the problems in Africa, on
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the lines of several other noble Lords. As I hav already explained, there is indeed a major refugee problem, but there is also a distinction that needs to be made here. Many of those affected have left their homes in search of food; not all have crossed international frontiers in search of asylum and so have become refugees. In addition to the help of the international refugee relief agencies, we are of course responding massively through the normal aid budget to the crisis in Africa.
Returning to the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Chitnis, the noble Lord asked me particularly about the closed centre policy. This was introduced in July 1982 in an attempt to deter further boat people from setting out from Vietnam. The measure was forced on the Hong Kong Government by events-resettlement prospects for those in Hong Kong's camps were deteriorating while refugees continued to arrive. That is still the situation although the arrival rate has declined, and the Hong Kong Government can therefore see no alternative but to continue the policy at present. I have to admit that the policy is a regrettable necessity in the circumstances, and I hope and believe that it will only be a temporary one.
The noble Lord, Lord Chitnis, asked me too about the application of the 1951 convention to Hong Kong. I can tell the noble Lord that it was decided not to extend the convention to Hong Kong because of the territory's small size and geographical vulnerability to mass, illegal immigration. The 1967 protocol was applied only to those territories to which the 1951 convention
extended. The Hong Kong Government nevertheless co-operates fully with the office of the UNHCR, and Hong Kong has, as I am sure he will agree, made a major contribution to the international effort to assist Indo-Chinese refugees.
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I would also point out that the UNHCR co-operate in the running of the closed centres and help to fund them. Incidentally, to our knowledge none of the countries of the region giving temporary asylum to Vietnamese and other Indo-Chinese refugees is party to the 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol, but nevertheless they, like Hong Kong, co-operate so far as possible with the UNHCR in the protection of, and assistance to, refugees.
The noble Lord, Lord Hatch, asked me about the International Fund for Agricultural Development. We are members of this UN organisation. Perhaps I could be allowed to write to the noble Lord about our policy towards it.
My Lords, in conclusion I should like to draw your Lordships' attention to what I believe are the three key points underlying what we have discussed this afternoon. First, I hope we shall not overlook the fact that so often there are political problems which lie at the heart of the matter where millions are compelled to give up their homes, their land and their livelihood for the squalor and hopelessness of so many of the world's refugee camps. Political problems call for long-term political solutions. We have to create the conditions where refugees can return to their countries of origin of their own free will.
Secondly, the problem is not only of massive proportions; by its very nature it requires international solutions. Our best hope lies in working with the world
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