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CONFIDENTIAL
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Mr Murray
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PS/Lord Goronwy-Bobertese
HONG KONG: LETTER FROM LORD BETHELL
13 DEC.378
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Bether.
asks whether
1. In his letter of 22 November, Lord Bethel Lord Goronwy-Roberts' statement in the House of Lords on 8 November was the first time that a government spokesman had declared publicly that political refugees who arrived in Hong Kong from China were attachemot sent back under the policy of repatriating illegal immigrants.
I apologise for the delay in submitting this reply: it has taken us some time to check through all government statements on the question of illegal immigrants from China since the repatriation policy was
introduced in 1974.
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2. In fact, the policy towards political refugees has never been stated quite so explicitly before, mainly because the question has not previously been put as directly as Lord Bethell posed it in his contribution to the Foreign Affairs debate. This does not, of
course, mean that the policy is in any way new. When the policy of repatriating illegal immigrants detained at the border was first explained to Parliament on 18 December 1974 by Mr David Ennals, he said that "all cases are considered on an individual basis before any action to return is taken. Full account is taken of any special circumstances or cases of genuine hardship". On 4 February 1975, Lord Segal asked in the House of Lords "whether the influx of political refugees from Communist China to Hong Kong is still continuing and what restrictions have been placed on their entry by the Hong Kong Government". In replying, Lord Goronwy-Roberts explained the policy of restricting the entry of illegal immigrants and again emphasised that each case was considered carefully "with a view to determining whether his or her return will cause undue hardship for one or other reason, including the kind of reason
This statement was therefore that my noble friend has raised". tantamount to an indirect confirmation that political refugees might
be allowed to stay.
3.
The Government have also made it clear that the illegal immigrants who have been repatriated to China do not include any who have claimed to be refugees. In replying to a question by
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