TNAG-1526-FCO40-2090-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1986 — Page 6

David Waddington QC MP

-2-

21 August 1986

was dictated by the desire of the Government Departments involved to get the Programme started as quickly as possible. We responded on the understanding already referred to above, that all who qualified would eventually arrive. Thus some of those who were among the earliest and highest priority applicants are still in Hong Kong, while others, who applied much more recently, have already arrived where housing has been available.

The suggestion that the SCORRI Programme may be limited in numbers and may indeed be nearing completion is naturally causing the greatest anxiety and frustration among the families of those refugees who have not yet been called forward. This frustration is in some cases visited directly upon the staff of the agencies, who are seen to have been responsible for the selection of who should come and who should not.

The situation in which we now find ourselves would not have arisen if the estimates provided by reliable sources had turned out to be correct. For several clearly identifiable reasons the number of applications has been higher than anticipated. These include:

1.

2.

3.

Some refugees had not previously applied because they knew that they fell outside Britainty These Su

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vised not to apply as a refusal was certain, and an application could have jeopardised their chances of resettlement elsewhere;

Applications have been made for relatives of those who arrived from Hong Kong since the original lists were established;

Some applications have been accepted by the Home Office under the SCORRI Programme, which not at first sight fulfil the basic criteria suggested by SCORRÍ. These were presumably approved under the Ministerial discretion which SCORRI emphasised should be retained.

We must now inform you of the exact situation in which we find ourselves. 463 people have now been called forward from Hong Kong and of these 410 have arrived. The agencies have lists of further applicants totalling 645 names of people in Hong Kong. However, since no cut-off date for applications has been announced, more may still be forthcoming. In addition the agencies have lists totalling 211 names of Vietnamese refugees in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Macau. Lists totalling 78 names of Lao and Cambodian refugees in Thailand have also been established.

The agencies are not in a position to estimate how many of these people will in fact qualify under the SCORRI criteria or how many are likely to present themselves if and when they are called forward. Experience has shown that a significant number of those called forward in fact drop out as they have been resettled elsewhere.

In conclusion, we do hope you will be able to confirm that all those who qualify under the SCORRI criteria will be admitted, and that the Programme, which has been proceeding successfully and without incident until now, can now continue until this has been achieved.

HA Shaw

Vice-Chairman