TNAG-1426-FCO40-1909-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 200

THE BRITISH REFUGEE COUNCIL

Chairman: SIR ARTHUR PETERSON, KCB. MVO.

Vice Chairmen:

SIR LESLIE KIRKLEY, CBE

KENNETH LEE

Honorary Treasurers: A. H. CHAPMAN, FCA H. A. SHAW, OBE

BONDWAY HOUSE, 3/9, BONDWAY, LONDON, SW8 15J.

Telephone: 01-582 6922

Cables: BREFCON, LONDON, SW8.

Director: MARTIN BARBER, Ph. D.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

18 April 1985

MPS SAY "ABOLISH CLOSED CAMPS IN HONG KONG"

RADICAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN BRITAIN NEEDED

INTOLERABLE DELAYS ON ASYLUM APPLICATIONS

?

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee proposes radical improvements in Government policy towards Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong and in Britain and towards individuals seeking asylum in Britain in a report* released today.

The British Refugee Council (BRC) warmly welcomes the Report and will be

pressing the Government to accept and implement the recommendations as

quickly as possible.

VIETNAMESE IN HONG KONG

The Committee endorses the BRC's condemnation of the prison-like conditions

in which Vietnamese refugees are held in Hong Kong's closed camps and urges

their release into open camps. "Unless the situation changes, there will

shortly be children of school age who have spent their entire lives in closed

camps", states the report.

The Committee recommends more generous criteria for admission of people in

refugee camps who have relatives already here. The refugee agencies have

already resubmitted some family reunion applications from Vietnamese which

have been rejected by the Home Office. "In the light of the Committee's

recommendations, we trust there will be no delay in approving these cases

and the others that are being prepared for submission", hopes Martin Barber,

Director of the ERC.

cont'd

TTACTS:

* Third Report: 'Refugees and Asylum, with Special Reference to the Vietnamese

Catriona Renton, BRC Press Tel: 01-582 3969. Martin Barber, BRC Director, 582 6922

Graene Jackson, BBC Viet. Information, Tel: 582 6922

Julia Mei'ile john, Refugee Action Director. Fal: 740 8670 cm 705 5200

Maureen Connell, AS, Tel: 372 7962

Registered under the Charities Act 1960 No. 283993

The British Refugee Council incorporates the British Council for Aid to Returees and the Standing Conference on Refugees