HL Deb 02 February 1987 vol 484 cc9-11

2.58 p.m.

The Earl of Selkirk

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are able to offer any assistance in finding permanent settlement for the 8,000 refugees from Vietnam now being maintained by the Government of Hong Kong at the cost of some £10 million a year.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)

My Lords, we are very conscious of the burden which Hong Kong has borne since 1975 and of the growing concern in the territory at the slow pace of overseas resettlement. We are considering what more can be done to help Hong Kong and will announce what we have decided as soon as we can.

The Earl of Selkirk

My Lords, is not the situation grossly unfair to Hong Kong? It has to keep a rigid control on its frontier to prevent the Chinese getting in, while immigrants, whether political or economic, force their way on to its shores from Vietnam. The Vietnamese are fine people and should not have undue difficulty in being accepted in other countries.

Baroness Young

My Lords, I think we all recognise what the Hong Kong Government have done in this particular circumstance. I am aware of the letter from Miss Dunn from Hong Kong expressing concern over the Vietnamese problem. As I indicated, we are looking for ways of solving this and thereby easing the burden on Hong Kong.

Lord Avebury

My Lords, was not the former Foreign Secretary, the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, highly successful in convening a pledging conference at which there could be a sharing of the burden throughout the whole of the world community. Is it not best for multilateral action to be taken to solve the remainder of the problem of the Hong Kong refugees? Would the noble Baroness suggest to her right honourable friend that the best way forward would be to invite those countries which took part in the former pledging conference to see whether they can deal with the remaining small residual problem?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I entirely appreciate the point that the noble Lord makes. In fact, over 1,200 extra resettlement places were secured as a result of the United Kingdom's decision to accept some 500 more family reunion cases. We are very grateful for the other countries' responses and we hope that they will continue to do what they can to help.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos

My Lords, while I appreciate the acute problems which this matter has created for the Government of Hong Kong, I should like to ask the noble Baroness whether she will confirm that there are now behind barbed wire 8,000 Vietnamese who have been there for from three to six years. Will she also confirm that the lead should be taken by Her Majesty's Government—that is, by this country—and not by any other country, and that an example set by us may well be followed by others? I welcome what she has just said about a Statement, but could she tell the House when a Statement will be made because we have been waiting for it for quite a long time?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I can confirm that the total figures for refugees in Hong Kong are 8,000, both in the closed and in the open camps. In 1986, 3,816 refugees were resettled from Hong Kong, including 474 in the United Kingdom. Arrivals totalled 2,074, which was a sharp increase, but the total refugee population fell from 9,443 to 8,039 at the end of the year. As I indicated, we have accepted 474 refugees in this country. That has set an example to others and we are grateful for the numbers that they have taken. In answer to the noble Lord's last point, of course we shall get an answer on this matter as soon as we can.

Baroness Denington

My Lords, is the Minister aware that the policy that has so far been used for housing the refugees was a policy of dispersal, and that this has caused not only great misery and unhappiness for the refugees but also concern to local authorities? There have been great problems, because the extended family, which is the family pattern of these people, has been broken up. They have felt isolated, miserable and disorientated. They have therefore struggled to regather their family units, which has meant a great problem for the big cities of London Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. They have congregated in London, in four south London boroughs which have a terrible housing problem of their own. Yet the boroughs are doing their utmost to help those poor souls who now have all congregated in those areas in order to get their family units together——

Noble Lords

Speech!

Baroness Denington—and the boroughs have tried to provide facilities for them. Therefore will the Minister consider having consultations with leaders of the Vietnamese and representatives of the big cities to avoid this problem happening again?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I note the point that the noble Baroness has made and I will draw it to the attention of my right honourable and learned friend the Secretary of State.

Lord Ennals

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that a very substantial number of those who arrived in Hong Kong and are now behind barbed wire have very close relatives in Britain whom they wish to join? Can the British Government be slightly more generous in promoting family reunions than they have been so far?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I think our record on this matter is a good one, and we have in fact accepted into this country some thousands of refugees. Furthermore, we do not examine newly arriving boat people in Hong Kong in order to determine whether they are refugees under the terms of the 1951 convention. We and Hong Kong continue to base our treatment of them on the international understanding reached at the 1979 Geneva Conference on Indo-China, that all who left Indo-China illegally were to be treated as refugees.

The Earl of Selkirk

My Lords, will my noble friend say whether the Vietnamese Government show the slightest penitence at the brutality they are creating for other people?

Baroness Young

My Lords, we have been very concerned about the situation on human rights in Vietnam and that continues to be one of the problems which is causing the outflow of refugees.

Lord McNair

My Lords, does the noble Baroness fully appreciate the symbolic importance of what is done by us? Is she aware that there are other countries where there is an actual need for immigrants, which are looking to us? Therefore even a semi-generous gesture by the British Government might lead to a solution of this problem once and for all.

Baroness Young

My Lords, we have accepted nearly 20,000 Indo-Chinese, including 12,000 from Hong Kong. We took a further 470 from Hong Kong last year and we have used this initiative to encourage other countries. We are considering actively what more might be done.