TNAG-1538-FCO40-2102-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-third-countri-1986 — Page 11

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accept all who come here, the resettlement countries have quite

strict limitations on the numbers and the sort of refugees they

are prepared to take. As a result we are landed with an

increasingly large population whom no one is willing to

resettle. 1155 of our refugees have been here for as long as

4430 for four years or more. Against this background

six years;

we have been greatly assisted by HMG's decision to broaden the

family reunion criteria it applies in deciding who to take. As

a result 423 refugees have left Hong Kong for the United Kingdom

so far this year. In addition, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,

Greece, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand,

Norway and Sweden have responded by taking refugees from

Hong Kong. The major resettlement countries (the United

States, Australia and Canada) have either maintained or

increased their regular monthly off-take from Hong Kong.

the end of October this year a total of 3,300 refugees

had been resettled from Hong Kong, compared to 3,200 during

the same period in 1985. Though this represents only a 3%

increase, it must be viewed in the context of a shrinking

worldwide interest in resettlement generally.

Without the

At

British initiative, resettlement from Hong Kong this year

would have been very much lower. And its consequences have

been significant. At 8165 on 21 November our refugee

population was at its lowest since 1979, and 1280 less than

it was at the beginning of this year. We are extremely

grateful to HMG and to all the resettlement countries for the

very real help they have given us.

14.

It is true that there has been an increase in

arrivals this year. At the end of October, 1900 refugees had

arrived compared to 950 during the same period in 1985. HMG

is naturally concerned by the coincidence of this doubling in