TNAG-1536-FCO40-2100-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-third-countri-1986 — Page 13

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3.

are

To maximise the effect of our decision and Hong Kong's, we

pressing other resettlement countries to take additional

refugees from Hong Kong. So far Australia (200 refugees), Canada (500), Denmark (50), Finland (70), the Netherlands (80), New Zealand

(19), Norway (about 75) and Sweden (100) have offered specific

increases in resettlement places, and France is to resettle some

refugees. The US, which resettles more Indo-Chinese refugees than

any other country, is currently accepting refugees at an annual rate

of some 1,800, 200 more than the previous year's ceiling. Several

other countries are likely to respond favourably.

Repatriation to Vietnam

4.

Voluntary repatriation, considered by UNHCR to be the most

desirable solution to refugee problems wherever feasible, is not a realistic option for Hong Kong at present, because of the lack of volunteers among the refugees (only 22 so far, of whom only 14 have

returned to Vietnam; the remaining 8 await a decision from the

Vietnamese authorities on whether they may return).

5.

Involuntary repatriation would be popular in Hong Kong, where

there is general resentment over the fact that Vietnamese boat people receive better treatment than illegal Chinese immigrants who, despite having close ethnic and often family ties with Hong Kong

Chinese, are almost invariably repatriated to China. When Ministers last (May 1985) considered the possibility of discussing the subject

with the Vietnamese Government (who have hitherto refused to accept

back refugees who left Vietnam illegally), the Secretary

the Secretary of State

decided that such a course should not be pursued. He took the view Parliamentary and public opinion in this country would not

accept that we should discuss forcible repatriation with the Vietnamese regime given our condemnation of Vietnamese policies, not

least in Cambodia.

that

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