TNAG-1970-FCO40-2803-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation-1989 — Page 111

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CALL ON STATE SECRETARIAT FOR HUMANITARIAN ACTION

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Miss Wu and I called today on Serge Telle, a conseiller technique in Bernard Kouchner's cabinet. Telle, who is seconded from the Quai d'Orsay, deals with international issues, and accompanied Kouchner to Hong Kong. He will also go with him to Malaysia and the Phillipines next week, and to Vietnam at the beginning of March.

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Telle did not have much to say that was new about the visit. He said that the French were not in favour of the screening of refugees, but understood the circumstances that had forced its introduction. They did not want to have to take a public position on the matter, although he admitted, speaking personally, that if necessary they probably would back us openly. A particular concern was that the refugee problem was undermining important legal and moral principles. The idea of France as «terre d'asile» was still very strong: there had been an enormous outcry over the forced repatri- ation of a 100 Milian illegal immigrants two years ago.

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France was willing to accept Vietnamese refugees: they were hard-working, successful and had no delinquency problems. About 40% of the 125,000 refugees lived in the Paris area and were integrating well. There was still a French sentimental link with Indo-China, but the refugees were not very aware of France. This was partly because links with North Vietnam, where most of the refugees came from, had been minimal for thirty years.

4.

Improvement of the situation in Vietnam was the key. The problem was that there was little the French could do to influence this. They had been looking to see what aid they could give, since this was what the Vietnamese demanded. Unfortunately they could only find FF5 million for Kouchner to offer: this would hardly buy a flat in Hong Kong.

5.

Telle was not over-optimistic about the forthcoming Geneva conference, which Kouchner would attend, since, he repeated, the solution to the problem lay both in a general normalisation of the situation in Indo-China and in improvement in economic and political conditions in Vietnam. One area in which the French felt they could be of use was in humanitarian cooperation in the camps. The Secretariat was constantly receiving letters from doctors and other specialists offering to do voluntary work. If they were able to get them work in the camps it would not only help the boat-people, but also raise the profite of France and perhaps enable them to take more refugees. Their NGOs were experienced and interest was high: they could send 20 doctors tomorrow.

CODE 18-77

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