*CONFIDENTIAL
機密
Annexe B to SF/404-128
dated 19th November 1982
L/N 1818 the second group (10 persons)
the "Interlopers"
A 22 year old ethnic Vietnamese male who had just completed a two-year sentence in a re-education camp for attempting to escape organised this group in Hue, Central Vietnam. This group set sail from Vietnam on 22nd July 1982 with seven persons on board. The eighth person who was supposed to bring the fuel did not appear and the group was obliged to beg fuel from a fishing boat.
2.
The fishermen supplied the group with 60 litres of fuel in return for accepting on board three of the fishermen, bringing the total number in the boat to ten. The group then sailed on a bearing of 45°NE for six days, when they encountered a storm which swamped their engine rendering it inoperative. The boat drifted for a further seven days, during which time they ran out of both food and water.
3.
On their 13th day at sea they spotted a motorized vessel. They therefore hoisted a temporary sail and sailed towards it. The crew of the vessel, a Chinese fishing boat, fed the refugees and towed them to Shantou. Once ashore they were detained in a police station where they remained for 51 days.
On 25th September they were questioned by a Chinese official, using an interpreter, on their reasons for escaping from Vietnam. On the same day they were taken to the seashore, where they were put on board a boat with another group of refugees. They then set sail for Hong Kong, arriving four days later on 29th September.
CONFIDENTIAL #2
機密
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