TNAG-1801-FCO40-2561-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 72

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VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG: VIEWS OF THE BRITISH REFUGEE COUNCIL

1. Dr Martin Barber, the Director of the British Refugee Council (BRC) telephoned me yesterday evening. He wished to reinforce certain of the points which had been made by Lord Chitnis when the two of them had called on the Secretary of State on 19 May.

2. Dr Barber's main message concerned the possible introduction of screening in Hong Kong. He said that the BRC would not be at all opposed to this, provided that it formed part of a wider package. The BRC would wish screening to be accompanied by other measures to stimulate the resettlement of those boat people already in Hong Kong or subsquently screened in as geniune refugees. They would be looking to HMG to take a lead with a renewed resettlement commitment as an example to other resettlement countries.

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Dr Barber added that the BRC would find a new policy easier to defendif it was in addition accompanied by some material incentive to the Vietnamese Government to take back those screened out as economic migrants. One possibility would be the involvement of voluntary agencies in providing relief to the Vietnamese people (as opposed to government aid to the Vietnamese Government): they could be used as a channel for ODA funds in providing project assistance. I said that as he probably knew UNHCR were looking at possible ways of providing small scale assistance, linked directly to the return. of economic migrants to Vietnam. Dr Barber acknowledged that this was one possible approach: but direct involvement of the voluntary agencies would have the additional advantage of lessening their propensity to critise HMG for seeking the involuntary repatriation of economic migrants to Vietnam, and the BRC for condoning this.

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Finally, Dr Barber said that Lord Chitnis and he would be speaking to the All-Party Committee on Refugees on 14 June. has been recently revised under the Chairmanship of Mr Alastair Goodlad, MP, and contains a number of MP's with a Hong Kong background). They would be bound to put the present situation in Hong Kong high on their agenda.

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31 May 1988

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Mr Williams UND Mr Colvin SEAD

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