TNAG-1534-FCO40-2098-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation-1986 — Page 151

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United Kingdom Mission

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DJ Barton Esq Hong Kong Dept FCO

Lear David,

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Your reference

Our reference

UN 243/1

29 May 1986

Date

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\ Repatriatin

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG AND THE ORDERLY DEPARTURE PROGRAMME (ODP), VIETNAM

1.

Mr Issaka, Head of UNHCR's Resettlement Section, called on 27 May to discuss his visit to Hong Kong, Thailand and Philippines in early May.

SUMMARY

2.

Mr Issaka asked if the British government could consider accepting a further 500 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong camps. UNHCR are exploring local integration and voluntary repatriation options further for Indo-Chinese refugees and seek donor government help through dialogue with local governments on refugee issues, especially the ODP.

DETAIL

3. Mr Issaka reminded us that, while departures from Vietnam remained constant, arrivals in Hong Kong had increased by over 60% over the last year and contained more North Vietnamese than in the past. He asked if the British Government would, at the October 1986 EXCOM, offer to accept a further 500 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong. He stressed the reinforced "multiplier" effect this would have on other resettlement countries, particularly those who may already be thinking of offering further places in 1987. I told him I would refer his request to London but could make no promises.

4.

We discussed the South-East Asian refugee problem in general, with particular reference to Hong Kong. I asked Mr Issaka if he had any idea why a higher percentage of refugees were now arriving in Hong Kong: did this mean that the closed camps were not a real deterrent? Mr Issaka said that UNHCR staff interview refugees on arrival and that most refugees say they had not heard of Hong Kong's policies (vis-à-vis closed camps or the latest local integration announcement) before they left Vietnam: their arrival in Hong Kong was purely coincidental. Mr Issaka, personally, did not believe this and considered that, to a Vietnamese leaving Vietnam for political/economic reasons, even four or five years in a closed camp (with an eventual possibility of resettlement) would be preferable to the situation left behind in Vietnam. The problem as he saw it, was the "pull factor"

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