TNAG-1425-FCO40-1908-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 55

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Mr. LEE's first question is: What is the Hong Kong Government's policy towards Vietnamese Refugees? The answer is that Hong Kong is prepared to continue to be a place of first asylum for

Vietnamese Refugees for as long as the international presumption is that they are refugees and resettlement countries are prepared to take them. For the reasons Members have pointed out, Hong Kong itself cannot be expected to take on the role of

resettlement as well as being a place for first asylum.

Mr. LEE's second question is what would be the longterm

implications? If I catch the sense of the question correctly, the longterm implications are that if resettlement countries are not prepared to accept the refugees for resettlement, then we

shall have to reconsider our policies. It is no secret that those now arriving here, and whom we, as a place of first asylum, accept, are

finding it very much more difficult to meet the criteria for

resettlement the resettlement countries are now choosing to apply.

Will we then, asks Mr. LEE, have to accept the rejects into our community? This question is a difficult one to answer.

Our hope is that resettlement countries will honour their international

obligations and take all refugees arriving here from Vietnam.

Finally Mr. LEE asks what is the solution? I wish I

knew the answer. The best solution is for there to be a much higher

rate of resettlement and this possibility remains our preferred answer.

The extent to which we keep the entry door open for arrivals must depend on the extent to which the resettlement countries are prepared to keep our exit door open for resettlement. What I can say is that, on the advice of Executive Council, we are pursuing the

possibilities hard with the countries and international organisations

concerned. There are certainly no easy solutions to what is a very difficult problem.