TNAG-1716-FCO40-2396-Hong-Kong-1987-Review-of-Representative-Government-1988 — Page 54

A

RESTRICTED

ARPADR

Background

1. of France's total refugee population of 170,000 about half are

Indo-Chinese. Some 40,000 are from Vietnam. France has taken a

total of 1,738 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong since 1975,

including 61 in 1987.

2. Following last year's Venice Summit the French Foreign minister, M. Raimond, informed us in June that France would

offer 50 places for Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong for the remainder of 1987. Although intended as a gesture of goodwill, the

figure offered was, to the embarrassment of the Quai, less than the figure of 30 per quarter in 1987 which the French voluntary agencies had previously told the Hong Kong Government that France would be prepared to take. Bariani announced the resettlement offer during his visit to Hong Kong in July 1987.

3. M. Bariani will be aware from his discussions with the Hong Kong Government in July of Hong Kong's view that "economic migrants" should be returned to Vietnam under suitable safeguards. It would

be helpful to indicate our sympathy with Hong Kong's position, without engaging Bariani in a detailed discussion of these aspects

of the problem.

4. Hong Kong telno 234, reporting the recent visit to Hong Kong of M. Mezeray, a senior official in the French Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, is attached.

RESTRICTED