TNAG-1790-FCO40-2550-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-third-countri-1988 — Page 264

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P Arkwright Esq

Hong Kong Department

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

LONDON

SW1A 2AM

Please reply to The Under Secretary of State Your reference

Our reference

Date

4 January 1988

вас вил

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES : NORWAY

(87) (243

چھی

Thank you for your letter of 21 December. Unfortunately, what the Norwegians say about the number of asylum applicants they will have received in 1987 compared to the United Kingdom is true! Our statistics are far from reliable but I would expect us to find we've received 5,000 6,000 "spontaneous" asylum applications in 1987. When you also take into account the relative size of the United Kingdom and Norwegian populations it's clear that there isn't much defensive briefing to be had on numbers alone.

However, there are points we can make in relation to the Vietnamese which aren't undermined by the position on "spontaneous" asylum applications:

i)

The Vietnamese in Hong Kong are Convention refugees, recognised by UNHCR and the international community. They are not asylum applicants. The experience of most European countries is that less than 20% of spontaneous asylum applicants are refugees as defined by the 1951 United Nations Convention.

ii) The circumstances which make resettlement in the West necessary for the Vietnamese are exceptional. It is generally recognised by European governments that resettlement in the West is not the best answer for the victims of economic, social or civil disorder.

iii) That being so, quotas for resettlement of asylum applicants would clearly run the risk of acting as a pull factor, and therefore not be the best use of developmental aid. In the case of Iranian refugees in Turkey, there is also a danger of creating a pull factor by operating a quota system and it is therefore essential that efficient arrangements be in place for the return of non-quota Iranians to Turkey. (There's a substantial history to these negotiations it would be better not to be drawn into discussion if possible.)

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iv) The Europe-wide increase in the number of spontaneous asylum applications in recent years has coincided with a vast increase in the number of "irregular movements" that is, people who travel without the necessary documents, or on forged documents, or who destroy all evidence of their identity en route. The United Kingdom government acted quickly to prevent this trend by introducing the

1.