FOR THE RECORD
Reference.......
CONFIDENTIAL
LEUNG PAK-KIN
1. I spoke this morning to Mr Sargant, Secretary of Justice, and conveyed to him the substance of paragraphs 1-3 and the first sentence of paragraph 4 of Hong Kong telegram no. 1494, less the references to deportation to Taiwan and its implications.
2.
Mr Sargant said he had been contacted by Amnesty who said that Leung Pak-kin was in danger of execution if he was deported. He knew no more than this and did not know who would be preparing the memorandum which was to be sent to us. He would, however, pass to Amnesty the factual information I had given him so that if could be borne in mind in drawing up any representations.
This
3. Meanwhile Miss Kelly has checked with the Home Office whether, in cases of deportation from this country, the deportee has to be returned to the place from which he came. The answer is that he would normally be deported to the country of which he is a national. is however subject to an Appeal against Destination (set up under the appeals system under the Immigration Act) whereby if the immigrant can show the adjudicator that he is acceptable to another country, then he will be allowed to go to that country.
4.
It thus seems that we would be on shaky ground in defending a refusal by Hong Kong to send Leung Pak-kin to Taiwan. If therefore Amnesty or Justice produce any plausible evidence that he would be at serious risk if Hong Kong sent him back to Vietnam, we may have to ask Hong Kong to reconsider their decision. We do not of course know whether Taiwan would accept him, nor presumably can we ask them. But the arguments against deportation to Taiwan set out in the Hong Kong telegram (that it would be easier for him to slip back into Hong Kong, and a bad example to others) would indeed not stand up well if we had to use them in Parliament.
27 December 1973
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'Mr Youde Miss Kelly
Alstine
A C Stuart
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean
Dept.
Mr Strand
agree.
1 thank
the next step is to ask Hy Raj.
to reconsider
on the Tanian solution, God-we have Affai
a wil
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