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Officers from the Immigration Department were present during these preliminary interviews. They received copies of the completed pro- forma for each person and on the information supplied segregated the cases where there was a possible claim to remain in Hong Kong. After that, where necessary further enquiries were made after the immigrants had been placed in detention.
The Government of Hong Kong acted in all this in accordance with the legal powers contained in the Immigration Ordinance (Cap.115). Specifically the Director of Immigration has power to detain for up to two months, under sections 18 and 32 of the Ordinance, persons "refused permission to land" (under section 11). This includes groups arriving by boat such as the 119 from South Vietnam.
You should also know that the Hong Kong Director of Immigration denies that he used the words attributed to him in Mr Tracy's letter. He of course received a very large number of enquiries about the group after they had been arrested, and Hong Kong have told us that he replied along the lines that "the illegal immigrants had been refused permission to land, were being interrogated, and would remain detained until enquiries were completed and a decision made about their future. This might take some time in view of the very large numbers involved and the complexity of the case".
I told you in my earlier letter that the group were only returned to South Vietnam after specific assurances had been received from the South Vietnamese Government as to how they would be treated.
After the 118 had been repatriated it was found that one memher, 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 to live imprisonment. About 29 of the remaining 117 (comprising women, children and old people) have
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