TNAG-1525-FCO40-2089-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1986 — Page 97

Our reference: Your reference :

Graeme Jackson Esq

British Refugee Council

Bondway House

3/9 Bondway

LONDON

SW8 7SJ

HOME OFFICE

Lunar House, Wellesley Road, CROYDON CR9 2BY

Telephone: 01-760 2341

Hnn 243/1 ним

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

1 1 APR 1986

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

188

PIRAR SCORRI

P

Y

PA

ken

8 April 1986

Dear Mr. Jacksm,

Thank you for your letter of 3 February following our meeting to discuss the SCORRI scheme. Our note of the meeting has now been circulated to those attending. I am sorry to have taken so long to reply, especially as I am afraid that my response to your constructive suggestion may appear rather negative.

As you recall when you made your suggestion at the meeting, we were reluctant to agree because of the resource implications. At present the scheme requires Liz Hebden and Margaret Kemp to liaise to sort out any problems at two stages in the process: first, when the list is submitted and, subsequently, when Hong Kong have interviewed those listed. There have been problems where the information from the agencies is out of date or inaccurate and this leads to a number of queries on each list. For example on the group submitted in January over half the families submitted by Ockenden Venture had to be excluded because they were not refugees or had achieved settlement elsewhere. We also have an obligation to inform other agencies when travel details are known. This is a time-consuming process for what is a very small section here.

We have no objection in principle to the modification you suggest, but we believe that it would cause extra work which, with other heavy pressures on the Asian section, we simply do not have the resources to take on. If groups are called forward as and when accommodation is available this will mean that instead of efforts being necessary on two occasions in the process (when the list is submitted and clearance requested from Hong Kong), we shall need to become involved on each occasion that a group is called forward.