§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the current policy towards Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. RifkindThere are 12,270 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong currently awaiting resettlement overseas, of whom 3,595 are in closed and 8,675 in open, centres. We continue to support all efforts by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to arrange resettlement. Since 1975 Hong Kong has provided first asylum for more than 100,000 and permanently resettled 14,000 within its own community. We cannot expect Hong Kong to accept any more for resettlement.