CONFIDENTIAL
Government are conscious of the problems, which have arisen as a
result of the huge increase in numbers of boat people arriving in
Hong Kong this year, and inteni to introduce improvements when
possible. The situation is particularly acute in San Yick, a
converted factory which houses about 4,000 "refugees": there is no
viable short term solution. But the Hong Kong Government are
considering a scheme for removing the current residents to
alternative accommodation by the end of this year (prior to resiting
them to the new centre which will house all "refugees").
Resettlement
7. Since 1975, Britain has accepted over 13,000 Vietnamese boat
people from Hong Kong. Our current resettlement commitment is for
468 Vietnamese boat people from Hong Kong over 2 years from May 1987. The Secretary of State has agreed that we should make the
case to Ministers for a new resettlement commitment of about 1,000
over the next 2-3 years. Progress on this is not likely to be fast, as it is a contentious area and the talks with Vietnam have a higher
priority.
8.
The recent Australian Fitzgerald Report commissioned by the
Australian Government recommended that Australia should gradually disengage itself from Indo/Chinese refugee resettlement. They considered that many of those accorded refugee status before 16 June
are not genuine refugees. They considered Australia had taken more than its fair share of refugees. Australia does indeed have a good
resettlement record over 6,000 since 1975 and 501 last year.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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