-3-
hours' total confinement in the Immigration detention quarters (with only one cup of coffee for refreshment, for which I had to pay, and restricted use ofatelephone) I was escorted aboard the UK-bound Caledonia flight. This arrived at London during the morning of Thursday, 7th November.
3. PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS
Since my return to the UK I have secured from the Hong Kong Government Office in London a copy of the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance (1971); it was under the terms of this ordinance that my refusal notice (copy attached) was issued. This document, while stating nothing that would have signified a revision of plans on my part, had I been able to scrutinise it before departing, does seem to me to reveal that Hong Kong Immigration officials have virtually unlimited powers of discretion and interpretation in individual cases. That they have internal guidelines laid down both by the Governor of Hong Kong and his Director of Immigration I do not doubt; that they acted hastily and indeed quite improperly in my case is, I submit, beyond doubt. Their haste, I venture, was attributable to their anxiety to ensure that I was removed by the carrier which brought me in and, of course, to the fact that they were empowered to detain me for only twenty- four hours. Hypothetically, had they decided, after proper consideration, to expel me, then, my own flight presumably having left, they would have been liable for payment of my home-going passage to whichever airline they chose to foist me on! As it was, of course, my own carrier, being that which deposited me, was required, under the ordinance, to meet the cost of my return to the UK. Their impropriety, I venture, was and is, indefensible.
These then are the details of the whole distressing episode; I have not wittingly mentioned anything that is not true, nor have
I wittingly omitted to state anything that has, or may have, a bearing on this issue. My personal view is that I have been very
should be subjected to this sort of treatment, on whatever grounds, by officials of one of Her Majesty's Colonies.
}