§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many family reunion cases for Vietnamese 956WA refugees are outstanding, for how long they have been under consideration and when they expect to decide on them; in how many are children and the elderly involved; whether the criteria being used in considering them reflect Vietnamese or Western family systems; and whether such criteria have changed over the past three years.
§ Lord BelsteadThe British Embassy in Hanoi has issued about 800 visa promise letters to relatives of Vietnamese refugees now resident in the United Kingdom. About a further 1,200 applications have been approved but since postal facilities have been withdrawn by the Vietnamese Government the embassy has so far been unable to issue visa promise letters. Alternative procedures are under consideration but the flow of Vietnamese dependants into this country is effectively controlled by the Vietnamese Government, which is allowing only a few to leave the country.
About 1,000 cases, some dating back to October 1981, are awaiting first consideration by the Immigration and Nationality Department. Some earlier cases may still be under consideration. I regret that more detailed information, and the ages of the applicants, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Until September 1980, applications for family reunion were considered from spouses, parents and unmarried sons, daughters, brothers and sisters aged under 21. With the increase in the number of Vietnamese refugees resident in this country, it became necessary to apply the same criteria to refugees from Vietnam as are applied to refugees from all other parts of the world. Since May 1981, the spouse and minor dependent children of Vietnamese refugees have continued to qualify for entry and applications from other relatives have been considered sympathetically on a case by case basis.