Thatcher preferred White Rhodesians immigrants to ‘non-white’ Vietnamese refugees

LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher tried to block the arrival of Vietnamese refugees, as she preferred white immigrants from Rhodesia or Poland over the non-white “boat people”, according to secret government documents.

Documents in the National Archives reveal that after Britain took one boatload of refugees, she urged ministers to find any way to decline any more.

“We can’t go on like this and in spite of our discussions about the need to find a defence against taking more - none has been forthcoming. Indeed I wonder if the matter has been pursued at all?” The Times quoted from a handwritten note written by Thatcher to then Foreign Secretary on June 8, 1979.

At the same time, Britain was also facing the prospect of white Rhodesians coming over.

And the then Home Secretary said: “The PM mentioned the problem which would face the UK over the refugees from Rhodesia, following independence, but said that she had less objection to refugees such as Rhodesians, Poles and Hungarians since they could more easily be assimilated into British society.”

“The PM said that in her view all those who wrote letters in this sense should be invited to accept one into their own homes.”

Thatcher also thought it “quite wrong” that immigrants should be given council housing when white citizens were not, said the note. (ANI)