TNAG-1427-FCO40-1910-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1986 — Page 41

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From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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London SW1A 2AH

December

9 November 1985

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Thank you for your letter of 21 November to Geoffrey Howe enclosing a letter from Miss Anne Dew of Goldney Hall, Lower Clifton Hill, Bristol BS8 1BH about the problem of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong. I have been asked to reply.

We entirely share Miss Dew's concern about the plight of the 9,500 Vietnamese boat people who are currently in Hong Kong awaiting resettlement (the largest number of any place of first asylum in South East Asia), and are making every effort to resettle them as quickly as possible. This has become increasingly difficult in recent years. As Miss Dew mentions in her letter, we recently announced that we would accept for resettlement in the UK some 500 Vietnamese refugees, mostly from the camps in Hong Kong (a few will come from other places of first asylum in South East Asia). They all have relatives in the UK, but their cases would normally have fallen outside the Home Office's immigration criteria for family reunion cases. Depending on the willingness shown by other resettlement countries to respond to Hong Kong's need, we will also be prepared to consider accepting further limited numbers from Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government would similarly be prepared to consider absorbing limited numbers into Hong Kong from the camps, but again this will depend on other countries' responses to the UK's initiative. These decisions were announced in the White Paper which the Government published on 26 September in response to the Home Affairs Sub-Committee on Race Relations and Immigration (SCORRI)'s recent report, "Refugees and Asylums with Special Reference to the Vietnamese". If Miss Dew wishes to obtain a copy, she can do so from Her Majesty's Stationery Office, PO Box 276, London SW8 5DT, price £3.30 (Reference Cmnd.

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9626).

Sir Peter Hordern MP

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House of Commons LONDON SWLA OAA

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

12 DEC 1985

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