§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the destinations of Vietnamese refugees resettled from Hong Kong; and if he will list the numbers permanently or temporarily resident in each destination.
§ Mr. RifkindUp to 31 January this year Vietnamese refugees had been resettled from Hong Kong by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the countries, and numbers, listed. The figure in brackets represents the total number of Indo-Chinese refugees and displaced persons resettled in those countries by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since 1975.
Numbers Argentina 29 (1,281) Australia 2,996 (71,915) Austria 419 (1,645) Belgium 166 (4,075) Canada 15,149 (85,587) China 37 *(2,853) Denmark 986 (2,904) France 1,359 (87,297) FRG 2,337 (21,326) Greece 42 (120) Ireland 110 (243) Israel 38 (366) Italy 111 (2,958) Japan 130 (1,917) Luxembourg 5 (97) Netherlands 569 (5,244) New Zealand 403 (4,789) Norway 575 (3,462) Spain 251 (925) Sweden 118 (2,441) Switzerland 617 (7,746) United Kingdom 12,171 (16,041) USA 50,677 ‡(488,995) * Does not include some 260,000 Vietnamese who arrived in China in 1978. † This does not include some 130,000 who arrived in the USA in 1975. In February 336 refugees were resettled including, for the first time, 57 in Finland.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the efforts currently being made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to arrange resettlement for Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. RifkindOfficials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are continuously in touch with the representatives of the major resettlement countries, USA, Canada, Australia and France; and in Geneva, with346W the permanent missions of other countries which will accept smaller numbers of refugees on an annual quota basis. Other groups may be resettled under agreements by flag states to accept responsibility for those rescued by their shipping, or under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' arrangements for pooling offers of resettlement places if the flag state is an unsuitable destination.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, in view of the statement, Offical Report, 14 March, c. 40, that Hong Kong cannot be expected to accept any more Vietnamese refugees for resettlement, what is his policy towards future arrivals in the colony of Vietnamese refugees.
§ Mr. RifkindThe present policy is to provide a place of first asylum for refugees from Vietnam, pending eventual resettlement in other countries through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.