CONFIDENTIAL
BRIEF FOR HE's VISIT TO CHINA
Vietnamese Refugees
The brief covers this subject in two sections:-
(a)
refugees who have come direct from Vietnam and their
outlook for resettlement, and
(b)
1
those who have come via China and their prospects for
resettlement.
The attached table gives the statistics at 14th March.
2.
The division of refugees into these two categories depends upon their
own accounts of the event's which took place immediately before they
arrived in Hong Kong waters. Little reliance can be placed upon
such accounts which often are demonstrably false; for example, recently
all persons arriving in small boats have maintained that they have come.
direct from Vietnam even though the boats could not conceivably have
made such a journey without a landfall and even when we have known
that just earlier the boats had been in Macau.
3.
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Within category (a), are those who have come to Hong Kong by large
vessels and those for whom there is good evidence that they come direct
from South Vietnam by smaller boats. Within category (b) are the
remainder i. e. those who appear to have come coast-hopping and those
who have stayed sometime in China, perhaps having earlier crossed
the China/Vietnam land border.
Category (a) direct arrivals
4. On 14th March, 1979, 9, 460 refugees remained in Hong Kong having
come direct from Vietnam. These include 3, 318 from Huey Fong and
2, 642 still on board Skyluck. The majority of the remainder (3, 274)
came last summer in small boats when the weather was favourable.
CONFIDENTIAL
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