TNAG-1802-FCO40-2562-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 19

for the previous 20 months.

I am pleased to report that since that time, U.S. officials have interviewed more than 31,000 applicants, about half of them applying to join family members in the U.S. and the other half applying under the US-Vietnamese bilateral Amerasian program.

All thesprogress is reflected in increased U.S. admissions. In fiscal year 1988, more than 12,000 persons departed Vietnam en route to the U.S. We are particularly encouraged by the progress of the Amerasian program and the cooperation we have experienced in working with the Vietnamese authorities to expedite the resettlement of all Amerasians who wish to be resettled in the United States along with their close family members. We are now well on our way to accomplishing the goal for resettlement of ail Amerasians, contained in President Reagan's 1984 initiative.

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Another significant achievement accomplished this year is the agreement for improved medical processing, which established a special medical team for conducting ODP medical examinations and enabled a physician of the Intergovernmental Committee on

Migration to be present in Ho Chi Minh City to coordinate the

process.