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respect. Many countries have already assisted generously with the resettlement of refugees from Hong Kong and HMG and the Hong Kong Government are grateful for this help. The FCO will, however, press other countries as actively as possible, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in order to maximise the impact of our latest decision. In particular, approaches will be made to those countries that already take large numbers of refugees from Hong Kong, to EC and other European countries, and also to potential resettlement countries in the Commonwealth. On a multilateral basis, HMG is very ready to accept the UNHCR's offer to use their services to secure additional contributions from other countries.
28. HMG and the Hong Kong Government share the Committee's desire to see the number of long-stayers in Hong Kong reduced. Many of these refugees have been rejected for resettlement on more than one occasion, and it is not easy to persuade resettlement countries to look again at their cases. However, HMG will continue to try to persuade other countries to include long-stayers among the numbers they accept.
(iii) If necessary, and as part of a burden-sharing agreement, Britain should accept a small share of those who are hard to resettle and have spent years in
camps.
29. Having regard to the Committee's recommendation that if necessary and as part of a burden-sharing agreement Britain should accept a small share of those who are hard to resettle and have spent years in camps, HMG are prepared to consider accepting, in addition to the family reunion cases, further limited numbers of Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong. A decision on this will be taken in the light of the willingness shown by other resettlement countries to respond to Hong Kong's needs and of all the circumstances at the time.
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(iv) Hong Kong should accept for settlement a proportion of the ethnic Chinese in its open camps.
30. The Committee has recognised the enormous amount that Hong Kong has done and continues to do for Vietnamese refugees arriving in the territory. The Committee has also recognised that Hong Kong, although immensely crowded and facing its own immigration pressures from China, has already absorbed some 14,500 Indo-Chinese since 1975. Nevertheless in the light of the Committee's recommendation the Hong Kong Government has reviewed its position on the possibility of further resettlement in the territory. The Hong Kong Government has concluded that it would be prepared to consider accepting for resettlement in Hong Kong a limited number of ethnic Chinese if the resettlement formed part of a package aimed at reducing drastically the size of Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee population and resettling all those whose stay in camps has been prolonged.
THE DIPLOMATIC OFFENSIVE
Recommendation 6
The FCO should make resolution of Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee problem a major priority in its dealings with foreign governments.
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