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He hoped
well. Governments would need to reassess their policies.
HMG would study carefully the possibility of granting humanitarian
assistance to Vietnam. If this was not possible, then he agreed
that the end of the road had been reached.
Mr Layden commented that such assistance would surely be an
invitation for further Vietnamese to leave, with the prospect of
returning later to their own village with £2,000.
11. M. Hocké said that even if the Vietnamese agreed to
repatriation on this basis, it would be important to monitor the
situation of returnees after their arrival to ensure that their
rights were not being violated. An international presence in Vietnam would be necessary to ensure both that further Vietnamese
did not leave, and that those returning did not end up in
re-education camps. There would have to be some hard bargaining
with the Vietnamese.
Mr Layden said he remained sceptical as to how many volunteers there
would be, even with economic assistance.
II SOUTH ASIA
(a) Tamils
12. Mr Poston said that the Tamils had posed less of a problem for Britain since the imposition of a visa requirement in 1985. They tended now either to remain in Sri Lanka or to go to India or to
other parts of Europe through GDR (though the latter category were now decreasing). The FCO were guardedly optimistic that the Indians were taking negotiations seriously, although pressure on President Jayewardene from the Buddhist clergy and the opposition could yet
cause a lot of problems.
(b) Afghanistan
The picture
13. Mr Poston said that this was more of a problem. was gloomy. There was no sign of genuine Soviet intention to withdraw: the removal of three anti-aircraft divisions was only
When cosmetic, since the resistance fighters had no aircraft. children reached the age of conscription, their families faced a difficult choice: either allow them to join the army, or become refugees. M Hocké agreed with this analysis. Mr Cordovez's efforts
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