§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the visit to Hong Kong recently in connection with a further influx of the Vietnamese boat refugees; who went on this mission; how long it took; what costs were involved; why the local British consulate could not handle this inquiry without the visit; and what were the results of this inquiry.
§ Mr. RaisonTwo officials of the immigration and nationality department of the Home Office and a representative from the voluntary agencies concerned with refugee resettlement arrived in Hong Kong on 28 February and returned to this country on 18 March. The expenses amounted to £4,000. The selection of the 10,000 quota announced in Geneva in July 1979 and the previous quota of 1,500 has been conducted by seven such visits during which more than 11,000 refugees have been selected by personal interview. There is no British consulate in Hong Kong.