TNAG-1425-FCO40-1908-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 259

CONFIDENTIAL

9. A decision to take such a number on continuing basis will not

be an easy one for HMG. Resettlement of Vietnamese in this country

is difficult,

and there is

Nevertheless we believe

resettlement problem, and

a high rate of unemployment among them.

that it is the key to unlocking the

that failure to unlock it will have much

graver consequences.

We therefore believe that the case for a

continuing offtake should be pressed initially with the Home

Secretary, and later if necessary in Cabinet Committee. This should

be coupled with a study of what training might most appropriately be

given to Vietnamese destined for this country in an effort to avoid

some of the problems we face with those already here. This might

include examination of the possibility of our using the refugee

centre at Bataan (paragraph 25(a) (iii) of the paper

processing

refers).

10.

Of the other options for increasing

resettlement we do not

believe that regional integration offers any prospect of success:

other regional countries such as Thailand have

more. Local absorption in Hong Kong might be

small number, but only if the rate of arrivals

reduced.

ruled out absorbing

a possibility for

can be drastically

a

Decreasing arrivals

11.

Of the

identified options, towing out to sea is clearly

unacceptable. Screening new arrivals would be more likely to hinder

our efforts to reduce the camp population in the absence of measures

for repatriation. The only identified option which seems to merit

further exploration is repatriation to Vietnam.

Repatriation

12.

For the reasons explained in paragraph 25(a) of the paper, repatriation on a voluntary basis is unlikely to have much impact on numbers; there are virtually no

paper set

out

the advantages

volunteers. Paras 17 and 18 of the

involuntary

and

drawbacks of

obvious: if we could get a scheme

enable us substantially to dispose of

of the problem.

repatriation. The advantages are

going it would

But it is also clear that there are formidable obstacles to its

The central points are that such a scheme would not

being adopted.

CONFIDENTIAL