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CONFIDENTIAL
shall not make any decision on forcible repatriation
until we know more about Vietnamese thinking.
2. UNHCR clearly have an interest since all
boat people arriving in the region are currently
regarded as their proper charge, and they are of
course still responsible for resettling existing
refugees in Hong Kong. UKMIS Geneva should
therefore draw UNHCR's attention to the fact that
circumstances in Hong Kong, and the main resettlement
countries' new determination to reject a high proportion of boat people (between 40% and 80%)
as failing to qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention, oblige us to explore with the
Vietnamese the possibility (however slim) of
arranging some form of repatriation. If these
discussions produced satisfactory guarantees,
this would allow Hong Kong to announce more ·
restrictive handling of boat arrivals and help
to deter subsequent outflows.
3. We will not publicise our approach in Hanoi
and will ask UNHCR to keep our confidence but
must allow for the possibility that any news of
our approach is likely to prompt criticism either
of our considering boat people as no longer
automatically qualifying for refugee status, or
of our seeming prepared to treat in this way
with a Government such as that in Hanoi.
We
would propose taking the following line:
(1) we were talking to the Vietnamese about a
range of problems concerning refugees;
(ii) we were making no commitments at this stage.
We wished to remain flexible in order to
CONFIDENTIAL
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