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(b) that members of the group had established no claim
to residence in Hong Kong and there were no special medical or humanitarian considerations;
(c)
(a)
Argument
8.
that previous cases had shown that the assurances of the South Vietnamese Government were reliable; and that the group had therefore been returned, with the exception (where appropriate) of those to whom such special considerations applied.
Hong Kong's social situation is already partly at the mercy of external economic events over which they have no control. Increased illegal immigration could only make these problems worse. Although the current rate of illegal immigration from countries other than China is still very small compared with the rate from China itself, the trickle is growing and it could easily become a flood. Subject to insisting that we be consulted in difficult cases, I think we should go as far as we can to support the policies which have now been outlined. It is relevant that we have now resumed the practice of returning people who enter Hong Kong illegally from China.
9. As I said in my submission of 7 June, I think that, in relation to other countries in the region, the choice of policy must lie between returning those who cannot demonstrate that a third country will accept them, making specific efforts to find such a third country for them. Hong Kong prefer the former option and would not regard Macao as an acceptable third country, as there is virtually no barrier to return from Macao to Hong Kong. Circumstances must sometimes alter cases, but I believe their general conclusion is right. If detected illegal immigrants can
show that another country, such as Taiwan, was prepared to take them, then they should normally be allowed to go there. But if they were simply allowed to stay in Hong Kong while the Hong Kong Government (or Amnesty) tried to find a third country for them to go to, then not only would the whole process become unreasonably long drawn out, but, more important, Hong Kong would increasingly seem like a soft option, where even detection does not lead to
return.
/10.
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CONFIDENTIAL