TNAG-1426-FCO40-1909-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 4

243/2

S T Nash Esq SEAD

FCO

RESTRICTED

нко

C cc: Ms Walker, HKD). Marion Clay', Consula

BRITISH EMBASSY

HANCI

® Enter + BW 19 Entertво 23 July 1985

се

In Walls Are ce to TING O the teeter for inc. öchtete,

24315.pa.

ра

268

Dear Stephen,

UK/VIETNAM:

1.

ODP

I thought, in the wake of Le Trong Duat's case and others raised by MPs, it might be useful for you to have updated guidance on ODP on which you could draw, as necessary, for use with MPs (and with Refugee Organisations, Amnesty International, relatives, friends and the general public).

2. First we have no influence, nor any levers to use, on the Vietnamese when it comes to intervening on behalf of ODP candidates who have been issued VPL's in London and who are now awaiting an exit visa.

UNHCR

3. UNHCR are as helpful to us as they can be but they are themselves severly handicapped in what they can do on behalf of a particular case. They are only prepared to intervene where there are particular and fairly narrow humanitarian grounds for doing so. These grounds are: age (very young or old), or ill-health (sick/severly handicapped), and in both categories only where a candidate for ODP is absolutely alone with no other family in Vietnam to care for them. UNHCR are often successful in these cases (but not always quickly successful). That they are successful is because they only intervene in such serious cases: using up precious credit on less serious cases would do no good for the latter and probably do harm to the serious ones.

POLITICAL CASES

4.

a)

These are considered by the Vietnamese to cover:

those in, about to go to or who have recently been in the Armed Forces e.g. PAVN. Probably someone who had been in the Armed Forces would have had to be out for at least a year and probably longer before he would be considered.

MKK 243/5.

RECEIVED IN REDITRY

30 JUL 1985

/b)

\

RESTRICTED