CONFIDENTIAL
8.
"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 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.
"
In the view of Ministers here, the time has now to consider a further intake of Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong, to follow on from the present family reunion programme. We now have a clear enough view of the response of other resettlement countries to Hong Kong's needs: they have responded positively, but they will have little incentive to maintain their commitment unless HMG, with direct responsibility for Hong Kong, shows
the way. Another relevant consideration is that the present welcome reduction in Hong Kong's refugee population will be far from enough to clear Hong Kong's camps: indeed the population could even begin to rise again next year unless a fresh impetus is given to the international resettlement effort.
9. We need to reach a decision on further resettlement before the present "SCORRI" intake comes to an end. This will ensure that the apparatus needed to deal with any further offtake is still in place and that such an offtake could be handled without the start-up delays that inevitably followed our relaxation of the family reunion. criteria.
It would also enable us to maintain the momentum of our current campaign to persuade others to do more for Hong Kong as well.
10. As a first step I suggest that we might
might meet to review the position and consider what form an extended resettlement programme would best take.
I should be happy to hold a meeting here in the FCO, or to come to Lunar House if you prefer.
CO Hum
bcc: Mr Adams, SEAD
Hong Kong Department
CONFIDENTIAL
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