CONFIDENTIAL
(c) we maintain pressure on the Chinese over coast hoppers
and urge them to accept responsibility for Vietnamese boat people
who land in Chinese ports for significant periods of time.
(a) we continue to press the Vietnamese to take effective
measures to prevent clandestine departures;
(e) we consider urgently with the ODA what financial assistance
HMG could provide to Hong Kong to cope with the influx. (I am
submitting separately on this).
A 3.
B
SEAD and FED agree.
UND do not agree, for the reasons given
in Mr Brenton's minute of 12 April.
Background
4.
The latest statistics are set out in Hong Kong telno 224 to Hanoi. These show that 2,065 boat people have arrived in Hong Kong
so far this year. The current arrival rate for 1989 is running at
124% over the same period in 1988. Ministers will recall that the
spring and summer months are traditionally the high season for
arrivals by boat from Vietnam, and that in 1988 arrivals reached a
peak in the months June to August. If this trend repeats itself
this year, at current arrival levels the number of arrivals in 1989
could exceed 40,000. In any event, we face the prospect of a major influx in the coming months, which would provoke a serious political
crisis in Hong Kong. The Governor is extremely concerned about
this.
C 5. In Hong Kong telno 1075 the Governor warns that, as the level
of arrivals rises, there will be increasingly urgent calls in Hong
Kong for the policy of first asylum to be abandoned and for the UK
to bear the burden of resettlement and temporary asylum costs. He has also warned of the risk that the Finance Committee of LegCo may refuse to vote the necessary funds for the emergency accommodation
required for the new influx. The amounts involved are HK$50 million
(for temporary shelter) and HK$170 million (for the further
construction of a detention centre known as the Whitehead project).
CONF IDENTIAL
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