TNAG-1799-FCO40-2559-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-ex-China-Vietnamese-illegal-im-1988 — Page 69

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to submit the link cases from both groups directly to the resettlement countries concerned in Hong Kong and in Peking;

to submit the remaining cases through the open quota, eg. to Western European countries and Australia;

then to submit the rejected link cases to other Western European countries.

He

6. Mr Issaka stressed that how the UK handled the UK link cases would affect how the US and Canada handled theirs. also asked if the Hong Kong authorities would agree that the ex-Fang Cheng cases be resettled from Hong Kong. I said I would report to London and let him know, but obviously the sooner UNHCR could find resettlement places the better.

7. Mr Issaka said that he had discussed the problem during his recent visit to Canada and the US. The Canadians had said they might consider taking some of the cases provided other resettlement countries also did so. The US insisted on eligibility screening and said that they would particularly want to know why they had left their country of origin. Another question was whether the Hong Kong cases would be resettled from Hong Kong or from China.

Mr Issaka's Visit to Canada and the US: April 1988

8.

Mr Issaka said that he had discussed the resettlement of Hong Kong cases, especially long-stayers, with the Canadian and US authorities. He had told the Canadians that the UK might be considering filling the unused slots from the 468 "quota" with other cases, but the Canadians had said that this was not in effect an extension of the UK "quota" and would not enable them to increase their intake from Hong Kong for 1989. They would take 600 for 1988 from Hong Kong but expressed concern about the 1989 off-take, without a better offer from the UK.

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9. As far as the US were concerned, fewer Vietnamese who were now arriving in Hong Kong qualified under the US resettlement programme (eg. all North Vietnamese represented 75% of arrivals - were excluded). While the US offered a quota of 1,000 for Hong Kong for 1987, they actually took only 333. Mr Issaka foresaw no improvement in the situation.

Weller.

DJ Walker (Miss)

5 May 1988

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