TNAG-1795-FCO40-2555-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 368

From The Minister of State:

rose wish

dave-

Ci

1512

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

13 July 1988

RY

HED 243/8

REC

IND.

18 JUL 1988

FICEH

PA

N

en

528

bear Michael,

Thank you for your letter of 27 June to Geoffrey Howe, enclosing a list of questions from one of your constituents about Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong. I am replying as Hong Kong falls within my area of Ministerial responsibility in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

First, sponsorship.

Our present policy is to admit to this country only those Vietnamese refugees who have links with Britain There is no provision for privately sponsored Vietnamese refugees to be admitted. However, we keep the policy under constant review and I have taken careful note of your constituent's interest in sponsorship.

Secondly, the new policy. The short answer to your constituent's question is 'yes'. I enclose a copy of Geoffrey Howe's Statement in the House of Commons on the new policy towards Vietnamese boat people, which was introduced on 16 June (not 21 June as your constituent implies). As the statement makes clear, from that date all arrivals are being screened, on the basis of UNHCR criteria, to distinguish genuine political refugees from those whose motivation for leaving Vietnam is simply the desire for a better life, and whose chances of resettlement in the West are non-existent. Genuine refugees will be accommodated in camps to await resettlement; economic migrants will be detained as illegal immigrants, pending repatriation to Vietnam in due course when this can be arranged.

Thirdly, your constituent asks about recent transfers of refugees from camps such as Chimawan and Heilingchau to new accommodation. These moves are part of the arrangements which are being made under the new policy and in response to the massive increase in arrivals in recent months. The nature of the crisis made it necessary for the authorities in Hong Kong to act quickly and some transfers inevitably took place at short notice. But your constituent will be pleased to know that one of the intentions behind these moves is to liberalise over the next 6-12 months the conditions in the centres accommodating all those who have refugee status.

Michael Latham Esq MP

House of Commons

LONDON

SW1A OAA

/Fourthly,