TNAG-1802-FCO40-2562-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 220

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CONFIDENTIAL

DRAFT

From: Foreign and Home Secretaries

To: Prime Minister

VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG: RESETTLEMENT

1. The Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary wrote to Mr

Powell on 17 October about the outcome of the second round of

talks with the Vietnamese authorities on the return of Vietnamese

boat people in Hong Kong. We have taken the first important step towards achieving our objective of the return of all boat people

who do not qualify to be treated as refugees. We must now focus on those who do qualify. The beginning of the repatriation exercise will reinforce the deterrent effect of our new policies

and reduce further the rate of illegal departures for Hong Kong.

The latest figures are encouraging and show very few new arrivals since mid-September: a much greater reduction than the normal seasonal decline at this time of year. There can be hope, therefore, that the problem is becoming finite.

2.

There are now some 25,000 boat people in Hong Kong. Of those

9,500 arrived after the introduction of screening on 16 June and

initial results indicate that few will qualify to be treated as refugees: their future lies in Vietnam. The rest, some 15,500,

arrived before the introduction of screening and await

resettlement as refugees. It is the largest population of refugee boat people in the region. Screening will mean that very

few indeed are added to their number. But the current rate of

reduction through resettlement (2,500 in the past 12 months) is

unacceptably slow. Even if that level of commitment is sustained it will take a further 6 years before all 15,500 have been

resettled. And over time governments who do not have our Own direct responsibility for Hong Kong will tend to let the territory's needs slip down their list of priorities.