CONFIDENTIAL
FM OTTAWA
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 408
OF 08212OZ JUNE 88
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG
CONFIDENTIAL
TOP COPY Q DIST ?
HUD 243/8
249
121024
MDLIAN 4017
YOUR TELNO
1.
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE: CHANGE OF POLICY
WE SPOKE AS INSTRUCTED IN YOUR TUR TO THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE AFFAIRS DIVISION, DEA. DEA HAVE ALREADY HEARD SUGGESTIONS THAT SUCH A POLICY WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED AND HAVE DRAWN UP A DEFENSIVE PRESSLINE SAYING THAT THEY HAD HEARD OF
THE MEASURE BUT AS YET HAD NO DETAILS.
2.
DEA WELCOME THE MEASURE AND SUPPORT THE INTRODUCTION OF
SCREENING. THEY CONSIDER HONG KONG TO BE THE MOST APPROPRIATE PLACE FOR SCREENING TO BE FIRST INTRODUCED INTO THE AREA. AS REQUESTED THEY WILL TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PRESS THE VIETNAMESE
AND TO PERSUADE OTHERS OF ITS IMPORTANCE.
3. THERE COULD BE SOME CRITICISM LOCALLY OF THE MEASURE, POSSIBLY IN PARLIAMENT, BUT THERE IS UNLIKELY TO BE MUCH MEDIA INTEREST. THE CANADIANS WILL THEREFORE, PARTICULARLY IN AN ELECTION YEAR, WISH TO TAKE A LOW KEY APPROACH IN CANADA AND, WHILST CONFIRMING GENERAL SUPPORT OF THE MEASURE IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS, WILL NOT WISH TO ANTICIPATE THIS BY STRONG PUBLIC STATEMENTS IN SUPPORT.
4. ON THE QUESTION OF CANADA'S CONTRIBUTION TO RESETTLEMENTS THEY WISH TO BE AS HELPFUL AS POSSIBLE AND AT PRESENT ARE PLANNING TO MAINTAIN THEIR CURRENT TARGET OF 500 GOVERNMENT
SPONSORED REFUGEES A YEAR. SCOPE FOR INCREASING THIS WILL BE VERY LIMITED BUT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THE MATTER AS
SYMPATHETICALLY AS POSSIBLE.
URWICK
YYYY
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