TNAG-1801-FCO40-2561-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 6

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6. The Home Office's second proposal, to delay issuing UK visas to ODP applicants, seems to me to be a complete non-starter. In the short term it would have very little effect since there is already a backlog of over 1,500 ODP applicants who already have Visa Promise Letters and who are merely waiting for their exit permits from the Vietnamese. Some indeed have been waiting for over five years. In the long term it would not work, since we could not continue to press the Vietnamese over ODP as an alternative to illegal departures only to hold the process up on our side.

In any

ase, my understanding is that the Vietnamese only issue exit permits when an applicant already has a VPL. We would be playing into Vietnamese hands.

7. The third proposal is to increase the resources for receiving refugees in the UK. This may in the long term be the only viable solution. This would obviously be considered in conjunction with any agreement to accept more Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong. We need to find out the amount of additional funding which would be required.

26 August 1988

CC:

Mr Footman HKD Mr Godson o/r

Alex Hall Hall

Miss A Hall Hall

South East Asian Department

8. Mr Footman, HUD,

has also

just pointed out that

the Austrations

• Amerian,

hour

as

been

the velamere

ал

an ODP

одр

and

ve American

pressing

havr

ал

as ved us

ん

лёксте

пе

pessur

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