§ 10. Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking and persuading other Governments to take to help with the resettlement of temporary refugees now in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. LuardAs my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary informed my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Mr. Gould) on 17 January, of the further 1,500 Vietnamese refugees to be admitted to Britain, 1,000 will come from Hong Kong. We have also approached 18 other Governments requesting them urgently to accept Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong.
§ Mr. AshleyDespite those approaches, is it not the case that many countries have refused to accept a fair quota of refugees from Indo-China and that they are as a result imposing an excessive burden on the Hong Kong authorities? Is it not now time for a new initiative by the British Government, through the United Nations Commission or the Commonwealth, to try to persuade more countries in Western Europe and North America to accept more refugees at a faster rate?
§ Mr. LuardThere is no doubt that the burden of accepting these refugees has been distributed very badly. It has been borne mainly by a few countries, especially Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and one or two other territories. That is why, as I explained to my hon. Friend in my original reply, the British Government have made an urgent approach to a large number of other countries, asking them to make a better offer of places for these refugees.
§ Sir Anthony RoyleIs the Minister aware that his answer is very unsatisfactory? It is rumoured that there are up to 100,000 or more Vietnamese of Chinese extraction who wish to leave Vietnam and who may be making their way to Hong Kong. What action is the Minister taking to help the Hong Kong authorities deal with this influx if these people arrive on their doorstep?
§ Mr. LuardI am sorry to say that the hon. Gentlemen's estimate may be a great underestimate of the total number who might wish to leave eventually. The total number of people of Chinese origin in Vietnam is about 1 million or more. I hope very much that most of them will not wish to leave Vietnam. I also hope that the policies of the Vietnamese Government which have encouraged that flow will cease forthwith. We have made maximum efforts to secure offers of places from other Governments and are giving every assistance to the Government of Hong Kong in dealing with the numbers already there.