TNAG-1801-FCO40-2561-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 89

Booliling

HKD

Lord Chitnis with

call on Thursday

ar 4.00pm.

CONFIDENTIAL

12 MAY 1988

PA

FROM:

CO Hum

ig may

Hong Kong Department

ec.. APS

Sp 17/

DATE:

12 May 1988

Cc:

Mr Gillmore

Private Secretary

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243/12

Mr Fell SEAD

12

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VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG: BRITISH REFUGEE COUNCIL (BRC)

1. Please refer to Mr Peirce's minute of 11 May.

2. I recommend that the Secretary of State should receive Lord Chitnis, if at all possible, before his visit to Hong Kong. It need not be a long meeting. But if, as seems increasingly inevitable, there is to be a change of policy on Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong we should do all we can to keep the refugee organisations on side. The Secretary of State will not of course be able to foreshadow any change of policy: but he will at least be able to demonstrate that we share the BRC's concerns and are closely in touch with the Hong Kong Government over the problem.

3.

I understand that in recent contacts with SEAD Mr Barber has said that the BRC would favour the introduction of screening in Hong Kong to differentiate between those boat people who do or do not meet the criteria to be considered as refugees. This suggests that the BRC would not be opposed to the envisaged change of policy, provided that screening was carried out in accordance with standard UN criteria (as is the intention of the Hong Kong Government).

CONFIDENTIAL

Colten

CO Hum