TNAG-1788-FCO40-2548-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1988 — Page 246

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as economic migrants. Care would be taken to reassure the UNHCR that the screening process was fair.

19. Mr McLaren said that this was the background against which we had taken up Vietnam's invitation to discuss the problem with places of first asylum. The talks would take place in Hanoi from 3 to 5

August. Hitherto the Vietnamese had been prepared to discuss only

voluntary repatriation. This was not acceptable. There would not

be many volunteers. Nevertheless we would need assurances that

those returned would not be victimised. Requests for aid by the

Vietnamese Government would present us with political difficulties

in advance of a Cambodian settlement, even if the aid were

channelled through the UNHCR. It would be very difficult to

persuade Ministers that aid should be a component in any agreement

on the boat people. We were keen to keep in touch with UNHCR and

with the ASEANS, particularly Thailand and Malaysia who had also

been invited to talks with the Vietnamese Government.

20. Mr McLaren said that the continued flow of boat people posed a

serious problem for the Hong Kong Government and HMG. Any help from

France would be welcome. We were currently studying the possibility

of HMG giving a renewed undertaking on the resettlement of additional genuine refugees in order to give a lead to other

governments.

M. Martin said that the new French Minister of State

for Humanitarian Assistance, M. Kouchner, wanted to repeat an

exercise carried out last year when a French ship was sent to the

area to pick up boat people. M. Martin said that he was trying to discourage the Minister. Mr McLaren said that it was unnecessary to go out looking for boat people. We could provide the French with

any number. Moreover, if it became known that boat people would be

picked up by French ships, they would only be encouraged to leave

Vietnam. M. Martin agreed that France should take some of those now in Hong Kong. Mr McLaren acknowledged the important contribution

that France and the United States had made to resettlement in the

past. We hoped that the Twelve would agree to make a demarche in

Hanoi on the subject and we had circulated a text accordingly.

There had been some comments from partners but no reactions from

France yet. The Germans wanted to refer in the demarche to the concept of voluntary returnees only. This was unacceptable for the

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