silent CC
Chancery, Bonn
A Donald Esq. Political Adviser, Hong Kong.
Mr Bittmann Holbeinstr. 9 1 Berlin - 45
West Germany
9:0 8440
(213)
8u ust 1974
Dear Sir,
&
R
F
(212)
You wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Lecretary on 26 July about the 118 illegal immigrants from outh Vietnam who were returned from Hong Kong to Daigon on 17 June.
The 118 were only returned to Saigon after the Vietnamese Government had iven assurances that nothing serious would happen to members of the group who were victims of the syndicate which had snuggled them out of Vietnam, and that cases of violation of Vietnam's immigration/ emigration laws would be tried in open court and would not be harshly runished. After the 118 had been repatriated, it was found that one member, who had given a false name in Hong Kong, had previously been condemned to death on smuggling charges. He has since been re-tried. and sentenced, instead, to life imprisonment.
Twenty-seven of the remaining 117 (comprisin women, children and old people) have now been released, and the remainder are being held in prisons in or near aigon. The group have thus all left Con von Island.
..
You may like to know that, following further representations made on the group's behalf by 1 Ambassador in Saigon, the Vietnamese Government issued on 30 July the following statement:-
"The British Ambassador called to express his Government's concern about the apparently conflicting press reports of the assurances given to the British and Hong Kong Governments about the 118 illegal immigrants repatriated from Hong Kong.
The Linister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam reaffirmed to the British Ambassador in the Republic of Vietnam what he had already informed the Minister of State at the Forei.n and Commonwealth Office in London, Mr Hattersley: namely that the 116 illegal emi runts who had been repatriated from lon; Kong are being treated fairly and will be tried in open court in the normal way according to the laws of this country. It is not expected that these illegal emigrants would receive any exceptional punishment."
Yours faithfully,
B H Dinwiddy
Hong Kong & Indian Ccean Department