TNAG-1544-FCO40-2108-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-Intergovernmental-Consultativ-1987 — Page 26

CONFIDENTIAL

Mr Barten

23

B2/1

DIE

Julie

lose

can I have

with all

W N Wenban-Smith Esq

British High Commission Ottawa

Dear Nigel,

L

1

REFUGEE: HONOLULU GROUH

1.

прот

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

the Mek

32.

London SW1A 2AH

18 November 1986

Even 243/13

RED

-

- 3 DEC 1986

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Taken

утинг

Thank you very much for the full and interesting account of your call on Terry Sheehan contained in your letter of 23 October. I have waited until now before replying so that I could inform you of the results of discussions between FCO departments on how to proceed.

2.

The initial decision to request membership of the Honolulu Group was taken because we received certain indications from the Australians. They were concerned at the nature of the refugee flow from Vietnam in recent years and about the possible "pull-factor" large-scale resettlement from countries of asylum was creating. They asked our views on dropping the group definition of Vietnamese as refugees and on repatriating non-refugees to Vietnam. indicated at this stage that they would view UK membership of the Honolulu Group favourably.

They also

3. At much the same time, we had initiated consideration of what to do about Hong Kong ie the increase in new arrivals and the decrease in resettlement places for both new arrivals and long-stayers as result of stricter interpretation of the definition of refugee by the traditional resettlement countries and of the changing nature of the "refugees". Our concern, as you know, was to stimulate international awareness of the problems posed to places of first asylum by the residual population of refugees who were unresettleable and who could not be integrated locally or repatriated.

The aim was either:-

(a) to obtain a commitment to more resettlement places; or

(b) to see whether there existed any scope for an international

approach to the Vietnamese authorities to seek their co-operation in addressing the problem. Such an approach might consider means of reducing departures and the Vietnamese agreeing to accept back any who had left for economic reasons rather than through fear of persecution.

Initially we had no set ideas on which international forum to use for this initiative.

CONFIDENTIAL