(Mr. Burn has already been informed of this).
A more fundamental difficulty over passages
arises from the contractual obligation on an
employer to repatriate a worker. This clause is m
the contract as a result of Article 13 of the
International Labour Office Conventions to
which H.M.G. subscribes and in respect of which
the Hong Kong Government has made a Declaration
It can indeed be argued that
of Full Application.
the clause gives the unscrupulous worker an
unfair advantage, but it was made necessary to
correct much more extensive and vicious abuses
by employers in the past.
Mr. Burn has been made aware of most if
not all of these points in the past. The
recruitment of workers from Hong Kong involves
some risks which cannot be entirely eliminated.
A recruiter must weigh them against the
advantages of the operation and decide for
himself whether or not to proceed.
I am sending a similar letter to
Quintin Hogg since Mr. Burn and his firm have
made the same approach to him as they did to you.
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