TNAG-1792-FCO40-2552-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 243

CONFIDENTIAL

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CONFIDENTIAL

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KOBLER, THE ACTING US CONSUL-GENERAL, CALLED ON ME THIS MORNING AT HIS REQUEST. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE ADVANCE SIGHT OF HIS SPEAKING NOTE. I DID NOT TELL HIM THAT I HAD SEEN IT.

2. SAYING THAT HE WAS SPEAKING ON INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT, KOBLER MADE THE POINTS IN TUR VERBALLY AND THEN HANDED OVER THE TEXT. HE EXPANDED SLIGHTLY ON TWO POINTS: SAYING FIRST THAT THE US EXPECTED TO TAKE ABOUT 1,000 REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG THIS YEAR: AND SECOND THAT THEY WERE ALSO PROPOSING TO INCREASE THEIR OFFTAKE FROM MALAYSIA TO PREVENT A MASSIVE INCREASE ON NUMBERS THERE AS A RESULT OF THE RECENT INFLUX.

3. I TOLD KOBLER THAT SINCE THE REFUGEE PROBLEM ERUPTED IN THE SEVENTIES, THE US HAD PLAYED A KEY ROLE. ITS MASSIVE PROGRAMME OF RESETTLEMENT HAD HELPED TO KEEP THE SITUATION IN HONG KONG MANAGEABLE WE WERE GRATEFUL. HOWEVER THE PROBLEM WAS NOW BEGINNING TO GET OUT OF CONTROL. A MAJOR FACTOR HAD BEEN THE LOWER OFFTAKE BY THE US IN 1987. THEY HAD TAKEN ONLY 333 REFUGEES. IF THEY HAD CONTINUED TO TAKE REFUGEES FROM HK AT THEIR HISTORICAL LEVEL OF 1,300-1,500, OUR REFUGEE POPULATION WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN SO SHARPLY AND WE MIGHT NOT BE FACING SUCH POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES.

4. BECAUSE OF LOW OFFTAKE AND INCREASED ARRIVALS, THE NUMBER OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG WAS NOW 40 PERCENT HIGHER THAN AT THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR. JUST UNDER 2,000 HAD SO FAR ARRIVED IN 1988. THIS COMPARED WITH 460 IN THE SAME PERIOD IN 1987. IT WAS ALREADY CLEAR THAT SOME WERE COMING HERE BECAUSE OF THE THAI CHANGE OF POLICY. AS KOBLER HIMSELF HAD SAID, A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THOSE ARRIVING IN HONG KONG WERE INELIGIBLE FOR RESETTLEMENT UNDER THE CRITERIA OF THE MAJOR RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES INCLUDING THE US. WHAT DID THE STATE DEPARTMENT SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD DO ABOUT THIS SITUATION?

5. KOBLER RESPONDED BY SAYING THAT THE US WERE TRYING TO FIND MORE

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