TNAG-1801-FCO40-2561-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 112

CONFIDENTIAL

(iii)

refugees selected on basis of skills.

(c) new policy to permit sponsorship by

individuals/organisations (in practice very limited numbers).

9.

Believe such a commitment would be practicable and politically

saleable:

public do recognise we have special responsibilities towards

Hong Kong;

case;

they seem ready to see refugees from Hong Kong as special

problems of absorbtion into community less acute given emphasis on refugees joining established relatives.

10. Possible alternative approach would be to introduce element of conditionality make package or part of it conditional on response

of others. Could make idea more saleable at home, particularly if

we can secure "multiplier effect" (100 places generating say 500).

But risks: our commitment likely to be small in comparison with

resettlement already undertaken by other key governments, both

individually and collectively. Limited impact on other governments or in Hong Kong could even be counter-productive. Perhaps only

feasible with US. And a significant number of resettlement places

in UK would need to be on offer to cut any ice.

11.

What are your views? What approach would be most acceptable to

Home Office Ministers, or more widely in Whitehall? How could we

best proceed to secure collective agreement? I suggest Foreign

Secretary could next talk to Home Secretary.

IDENT AT