TNAG-1535-FCO40-2099-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation-1986 — Page 22

GRS 700

UNCLASSIFIED

FM HONG KONG

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELNO 3750

OF 12044OZ NOVEMBER 86L

AG

DKK 243/8

RECLIVED IN REGISTRY

1 1 DEC 1986

OUR FIRST IPT: SPEECH BY HON. MRS RITA FAN, JP

THE ISSUE IS VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. I SHALL NOT GO INTO THE HISTORY

OF THIS PROBLEM SINCE IT IS WELL-KNOWN. THE PROSPECT OF RESETTLEMENT FOR THE 8,300 REFUGEES IN HONG KONG NOW IS DISMAL, UNLESS BRITAIN IS PREPARED TO REOPEN ITS DOOR TO SOME OF THEM, LIKE IT DID DURING

NOVEMBER 1985 TO SEPTEMBER 1986 WHEN IT TOOK IN NEARLY 500 REFUGEES. THE LATTER GESTURE, THOUGH SMALL, HAS ENCOURAGED THE OTHER MAJOR RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES TO CONTINUE THEIR INTAKE OF REFUGEES FROM

HONG KONG LAST YEAR, WITH THE RESULT THAT THE RESETTLEMENT IN 1985

WAS ACTUALLY 20 PERCENT HIGHER THAN 1984. BUT IN SEPTEMBER 1986, BRITAIN STOPPED ITS INTAKE, AND ALL THE RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES ARE

NOW WAITING TO SEE WHAT BRITAIN DECIDES TO DO. THE IMPLICATIONS ARE CLEAR. IF BRITAIN REVERT BACK TO ITS 1984 POSITION, 1.E. NO COMMITEMENT TO TAKE ANY REFUGEES, THE OTHER COUNTRIES WILL HAVE EVERY REASON TO REDUCE THEIR INTAKE. AFTER ALL, BRITAIN, BY ITS OWN ACCLAIM, HAS SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS HONG KONG, AND ITS LEADERS HAVE REPEATEDLY ASSURED HONG KONG PEOPLE THAT THEY WILL

DISCHARGE THIS RESPONSIBILITY. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS NOW

PRESENTED WITH A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE THAT THEY MEAN WHAT THEY SAID, TAKE 500 OR MORE REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG PER YEAR, SHOW

THE HONG KONG PEOPLE AND THE RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES THAT BRITAIN

IS PREPARED TO SHOULDER PART OF THE RESPONSIBILITY. THE FACT IS BRITAIN HAS A POPULATION OF ABOUT 57 MILLION, AND I CANNOT IMAGINE WHAT INSURMOUNTABLE DIFFICULTIES THERE ARE TO ABSORB 500 REFUGEES

PER ANNUM. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS VERY LIKELY

TO COME TO A DECISION THIS MONTH, THEREFORE, I URGE THE GOVERNMENT

TO IMPRESS UPON THE HKG IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE TERMS THE

IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR DECISION AND HOW IT WILL BE VIEWED IN HONG

KONG.

MR. WADDINGTON, MINISTER OF STATE FOR HOME AFFAIRS, TOLD US WHEN VISITING HONG KONG THIS SEPTEMBER THAT THE SOLUTION FOR VIETNAMESE

REFUGEES IS TO REPARTRIATE THOSE WHO DO NOT SATISFY THE REFUGEE CRITERIA BACK TO VIETNAM. I AGREE WITH HIS VIEW. MOST OF THE REFUGEES ARRIVING HONG KONG THIS YEAR CLAIMED THEY WERE LEAVING

BECAUSE OF THE POOR STATE OF THE ECONOMY. ABOUT 55 PERCENT CAME

FROM NORTH VIETNAM. IT IS THEREFORE NOT SURPRISING THAT

RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES CONSIDERED MANY TO BE ''ECONOMIC' REFUGEES AND REJECTED THEIR APPLICATIONS. NEARLY 5,000 OUT OF 8,300 REFUGEES HAVE BEEN HERE FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS. THE FUTURE IS BLEAK FOR THEM. IT IS CRUEL TO ALLOW MORE VIETNAMESE

TO BRAVE THE OPEN SEA IN FRAGILE JUNKS IN THE HOPE OF SETTLEMENT

lin

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