TNAG-1802-FCO40-2562-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-the-UK-1988 — Page 7

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CONFIDENTIAL

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HOME OFFICE

Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT

Direct line: 01-273

Switchboard: 01-273 3000

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17 JAN 1989

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C Hum Esq

Hong Kong Department

Foreign and Commonwealth Office London

SW1

20 October 1988

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Dear Mr Hum

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES AND THE ODP

Thank you for your letter of 3 October in response to mine about the Orderly Departure Programme for refugees from Vietnam. Whilst we are grateful for the efforts made to ensure that we receive earlier notification of arrivals, about which I have further comments below, I regret to say that the absence of any proposals for a control on the flow of ODP cases to the UK is not in our view adequate and certainly does not meet our concerns.

We understand there are currently well over 1000 people in Vietnam with UK visa promise letters awaiting exit visas to come here. However, as I explained in my previous letter the reception centre capacity (Ockenden Venture and Refugee Action) is around 130. With an average stay of 3 months, it could cope with an average intake of up to 40 per month. But, since the capacity is already used by the 20 refugees per month from Hong Kong it simply cannot take additional large numbers. For example, 2 consecutive months of over 100 arrivals, where most refugees needed reception centre accommodation, would overwhelm the agencies even if the average for the year worked out at 30 per month. Currently there is nothing to stop this happening. also mentioned in my previous letter large numbers would also put extra demands on local authorities some of which are already protesting to (DOE) Ministers about the burden existing UK refugees, especially Vietnamese, are placing on them. It would not, in our view, take much for that protest to take on a significantly higher profile. That could have a number of consequences but if it happened soon it is unlikely that the climate of opinion so created would be particularly disposed towards accepting more Vietnamese refugees from, for example, Hong Kong.

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