PP UKMIS GENEVA
HKK 243/1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
20 JUL 1933
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken?
CONFIDENTIAL
4803
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1
GRS 666
CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO 131400Z JUL 83
TO PRIORITY UKMIS GENEVA
TELEGRAM NUMBER 174 OF 13 JULY
57
INFO HONG KONG, HANOI, PARIS, CANBERRA, OTTAWA, WASHINGTON
FCO TELNO 125 AND YOUR PELNO 205 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
1.
YOU WILL HAVE SEEN THE REACTIONS FROM THE FOUR
GOVERNMENTS CONSULIED ON THE PROPOSALS IN OUR TUR. IN THE
CIRCUMSTANCES WE DO NOT THINK A MULTILATERAL APPROACH AS PROPOSED
THEREIN WOULD BE FEASIBLE. HOWEVER, WE WERE INTERESTED BY
AMBASSADOR DOUGLAS'S REMARKS ABOUT 'SAFE REPATRIATION' UNDER
UNHCR AUSPICES, AND BY ZOLLNER'S REMARKS ON THIS SUBJECT
(PARA 5 OF YOUR TUR). JEAFFRESON, HONG KONG SECRETARY FOR
SECURITY, HAS SINCE CALLED ON YOU AND UNHCR AND ON
HKD.
2.
THE POSSIBILITY OF INVOLUNTARY REPATRIATION OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG WAS AS YOU KNOW CONSIDERED BY MINISTERS
EARLIER THIS YEAR. IT WAS REJECTED.
3.
HOWEVER, WE RECOGNISE THAT THE MAJORITY OF VIETNAMESE
CURRENTLY IN HONG KONG DO NOT FIT INTO THE TRADITIONAL CATEGORY
OF REFUGEES, AND THAT RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES, IN PARTICULAR THE
AMERICANS, ARE CLASSIFYING MANY AS ECONOMIC MIGRANTS, IN THE
BELIEF THAT THEY LEAVE VIETNAM IN ORDER TO SEEK GREATER
PROSPERITY RATHER THAN THROUGH FEAR OF POLITICAL PERSECUTION.
AMBASSADOR DOUGLAS'S REMARKS (PARA 1 OF WASHINGTON TELNO 1408)
UNDERLINE THIS. THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT ARE THEREFORE REQUIRED
TO TREAT ARRIVING BOAT PEOPLE AS REFUGEES, BUT ARE UNABLE TO
RESETTLE THEM BECAUSE OTHERS CONSIDER THEM TO BE ECONOMIC
MIGRANTS. UNHCR SEEM TO BE AWARE OF THIS SITUATION (PARA 2 +
OF YOUR TUR) BUT WE WISH TO BRING THE IMPLICATIONS OF IT MORE
DIRECTLY TO THEIR ATTENTION.
4.
IF THE BOAT PEOPLE WERE REALLY ECONOMIC MIGRANTS, IT MIGHT
ON THE FACE OF IT BE JUSTIFIABLE FOR HONG KONG TO TREAT THEM AS
1
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