TNAG-1527-FCO40-2091-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 229

CONFIDENTIAL

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

Telephone 01-

the

The Barton

AER-

(3

R J Moon Esą Jakarta

Your reference

Our reference

FA 243/306/1

Date

RECEIVED IN BLUÍS TRY

DESKOTH

INDEX

7/2

9 January 1986

про

Dear Richard,

INDONESIA'S HANDLING OF INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES

1.

Thank you for your report of 23 December on your visit to Galang Island. Given Galang's normal inaccessibility to outsiders, I imagine this trip may have ranked among the more interesting of your local explorations.

2. Although it is the UNHCR who finance the running of the camp, its successful administration demands the fullest co-operation of the Indonesian authorities, and this has clearly been forthcoming. It is all too easy on this desk to feel burdened by the constant flow of human rights allegations against Indonesia, and all the more pleasant, therefore, to hear of the other side of the coin for once. Nevertheless, given Mochtar's latest comments on the boat people (as reported in the Jakarta Post of 3 January), one is tempted cynically to wonder if a reduction in the living standards on Galang might not ensue with the object of discouraging further arrivals. But the Indonesians are as well placed as anyone to induce Vietnamese government action in reducing the flow, and, as you note, they appear to have had some past success in this direction.

J R Setterfield

South East Asian Department

CONFIDENTIAL

MKK 243/3.

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

11 FEB 1986

DESK OFFICER. INDEX

CISTHY

NA

tion Taken

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