MKD 243/5
22 DEC19
PS/Lord Glenarthur
FROM:
R C L Footman
V242
Hong Kong Department
DATE:
16 December 1988
CC:
Mr Gillmore
Mr McLaren
Mr Colvin, SEAD
Mr Williams, UND
CALL ON LORD GLENARTHUR BY REPRESENTATIVES OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEE
ORGANISATION
A
1.
Representatives of three organisations representing refugees
from Vietnam in this country, and the Save the Children Fund, called
on Lord Glenarthur this morning. They were accompanied by Mr
Malcolm Rodgers of the British Refugee Council. You and I were also present. The delegation arrived 15 minutes late, cutting the
meeting to about half an hour.
2. Lord Glenarthur said he welcomed this opportunity to discuss the
difficult humanitarian problem of boat people in Hong Kong. Since
1975, Hong Kong had received over 130,000 boat people: none had ever been turned away. But the problem had deteriorated dramatically since mid-1987. The boat people population had risen steeply from 8,000 to 25,000, with over 9,000 arrivals in the first half of 1988. The vast majority of new arrivals were not what the international community regarded as refugees. So the need for resettlement had become greater, while the prospects for resettlement had become virtually nil. Without a change of policy this situation could only have got worse, with an increasing number of refugees facing a dismal future in Hong Kong's camps. The 16 June policy contained two key safeguards. First, the screening process would ensure that all who meet the internationally recognised criteria for refugees would be accommodated in Hong Kong until they could be resettled. Second, arrangements for repatriation would only be undertaken if we were satisfied that those who returned would be properly treated. We had insisted on, and obtained, assurances from the Vietnamese
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