TNAG-1802-FCO40-2562-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 13

those eligible to leave as soon as possible.

We are grateful

for the list of some 70 names given to us this morning by the

Vietnamese Delegation of those for whom agreement has now been

given to leave Vietnam under the UK's ODP programme.

The situation has changed since the last ODP consultations in

Geneva in May. The general picture concerning boat people,

refugees and asylum-seekers in South East Asia has continued

In the first half of this year, the British

to evolve.

Government was particularly concerned about the situation in

Hong Kong which, after improving over the years, sharply

deteriorated.

The Hong Kong Government introduced a policy to

screen boat people arriving in Hong Kong after 15 June 1988

and we ourselves have maintained a close dialogue with the

Vietnamese Government on the question of Vietnamese boat

people. We welcome this close dialogue and the willingness of

the Vietnamese Government to discuss the return of groups of

their citizens who have left in a clandestine fashion and are

determined through the screening processes not to be refugees.

We welcome what the Minister said about the progress of the

negotiations so far. We shall keep in close contact with the

SRV. We agree it is an important step in the process of

finding solutions to the problem of the Vietnamese boat

people.