TNAG-1802-FCO40-2562-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 52

From the Private Secretary

CONFIDENTIAL

ET MON

10 DOWNING STREET

LONDON SWIA 2AA

ทาง

MED 243112

21 December 1988

Misstativ or

+PA

N22112

Mc Furman

29/12

RESETTLEMENT OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE

Thank you for your letter of 21 December covering the text of a proposed speech by Mr. Eggar in the adjournment debate tomorrow on Vietnamese boat people.

The Prime Minister is not prepared to see us go as far as proposed in the text, at least until we know:

that other governments are in practice prepared to take substantial additional numbers of Vietnamese. refugees;

how we propose to ensure that the Vietnamese refugees who come to this country do not become an additional burden on housing in the London boroughs and other cities mentioned in the Secretary of State for the Environment's minute;

what additional resources may be necessary to provide for the refugees who come here, and who will find them.

Unless these points can be very rapidly resolved, this means that Mr. Eggar's remarks will have to be more conditional than in your draft. For example:

paragraph 3 should read:

"We believe that the time has now come for a major international effort to tackle this residual problem. We are prepared in principle to contribute to that effort, by taking a further 1,000 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong over two to three years, provided that others are prepared to contribute commensurately. The 1,000 would include

paragraph 4 should read:

"We shall do everything possible to ensure that additional refugees are resettled in a way that does not add to the very considerable pressure on housing resources in certain urban areas. My right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary will be

CONFIDENTIAL