310
1742
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
HANOI 0325032 OCT 79
HKK2431
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNOQ257 OF 3 OCTOBER
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG, ROUTINE WASHINGTON, UKMI'S GENEVA
CANBERRA, PEKING, SINGAPORE, KUALA LUMPUR,
BANGKOK, JAKARTA, MANILA, OTTAWA AND UKMIS NEW YORK.
1728
YOUR TELNO 157: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: NEW
DEPARTURE TRENDS
1. IN ABSENCE THROUGH ILLNESS OF MAI VAN BO, HEAD OF EUROPE 2 DEPARTMENT, I CALLED TODAY ON HIS DEPUTY, NGUYỄN TUÂN LIỆU.
see
-(1779
2. I SAID THAT VIETNAM'S POLICY OF ORDERLY AND LEGAL DEPARTURE OF REFUGEES, WHICH LIEU HAD EXPLAINED TO ME ON 5 JULY (MY TELNO 199 NOT TO ALL) AND WHICH HAD SUB- SEQUENTLY BEEN ANNOUNCED AT THE GENEVA CONFERENCE, HAD BEEN REFLECTED IN DROP IN NUMBERS OF REFUGEES ARRIVING IN HONG KONG. BUT ARRIVAL IN SEPTEMBER OF TWO BOATS CONTAIN- ING LARGE NUMBERS OF ETHNIC CHINESE HAD INDICATED THAT PAY- MENTS HAD BEEN MADE TO SENIOR VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS. I DREW ON DETAILS IN HONG KONG TELNO 1137. I ADDED THAT I WAS NOT SUGGESTING THAT VIETNAM'S POLICY HAD CHANGED, BUT FELT THAT VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE AWARE OF SOMETHING WHICH HAD THE APPEARANCE OF BEING MORE THAN SMALL- SCALE LOW-LEVEL CORRUPTION. I ALSO MENTIONED DISTURBING REPORT OF ONE THOUSAND ETHNIC CHINESE IN HUE
AREA REGISTERING FOR DEPARTURE.
3. LIEU REAFFIRMED VIETNAM'S POLICY OF ORDERLY AND LEGAL DEPARTURE OF REFUGEES. VIETNAM STOOD BY ASSURANCES GIVEN AT GENEVA CONFERENCE. SHE WOULD COOPERATE ACTIVELY WITH UNHCR AND CALLED ON OTHER GOVERNMENTS TO COOPERATE WITH
HER. HE CRITICISED ACTION OF EG US GOVERNMENT IN SENDING SHIPS TO AREA TO ENCOURAGE ITLEGAL DEPARTURES, HE NOTED THE DETAILS I HAD GIVEN HIM ABOUT THE SECURITY OFFICE AT
NFIDENT CONFIDENTIAL
/4. I THANKED