TNAG-1916-FCO40-2720-Accommodation-for-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 40

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for most of the long-stayers (including 2 from 1982, 8 from 1983, 9 from 1984 and 48 from 1985). 241 refugees are believed to be ex-South Vietnamese military officers, although Zenny Setiawati of UNHCR told me that many more claim to be in the hope of speedy acceptance by the US.

5.

In response to UNHCR's question as to why we had accepted so few refugees from Galang (73 since 1979, less for example than Denmark, Belgium, Norway and Switzerland) I rehearsed the reasons for our having to give priority to relieving the situation in Hong Kong, where the strain had now become intolerable. I held out no hope that we might be able to accept more refugees from Galang.

6. The post-17 March arrivals' accommodation was spartan. Until the screening process has been completed they are forbidden to mingle with those already classed as refugees (except at places of worship). As reported in TUR 292 recent arrivals had been "pushed-off" from Malaysia after a 2-3 week stay in Pulau Bidong. The Malaysians had confiscated their boats putting them back to sea in leaky craft without explanation.

7.

* - 73

Tisna Arifin told me that the recent arrivals were avid listeners of the BBC's Vietnamese Service and had been very concerned about the possibility of their being sent home as the result of an agreement between ourselves and Hanoi. Nearly all the Vietnamese on Galang are from the South and claim they would be punished if they returned to Vietnam. English speakers I spoke to all declared that they would rather die on Galang than return.

Screening

Those

8. This began on 24 July Colonel Mohammad Said, Chairman of the government's Vietnamese Refugee Processing Board

(and former Indonesian Military Attache in Hanoi at the time of Saigon's fall) hopes to screen all the post-17 March arrivals by the end of August. Given the Indonesians' lack of experience in such matters and their difficulty in finding Vietnamese speakers his plan seems somewhat ambitious. Said said that in conducting screening Indonesia would be using the criteria of the 1951 Convention of Refugees (although not a signatory). He seemed, however, to have already made up his mind that no more than 25% would be screened-in and advocated forcible repatriation for the remainder.

Comment

I found Galang a rather depressing place, despite being impressed by UNHCR's attempts to provide the refugees with

9.

basic comforts. There is much spare capacity there and the arrival of even many thousands more refugees, although unwelcome, would be manageable.

/10.

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