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refugee status, over which they would have control; UNHCR would also
be able to evade responsibility for those not identified as
refugees. But although one senior UNHCR official has himself
proposed such a scheme informally, UKMIS Geneva does not believe
that Mr Hartling and other senior officials would be in favour.
in 1984 Indeed, when Hong Kong recently detained as illegal immigrants 13 Iranians who had arrived with forged passports, UNHCR protested that
they should be granted refugee status in Hong Kong because they
would face persecution if they returned to Iran.
23. On 15 January the Hong Kong Executive Council discussed the
Hong Kong Government's screening proposals and advised that they
should not be implemented at present. However they recommended that
the proposals should be included in the present paper as one of the options available, to be kept under review, in the light of the
resettlement position and the likelihood of the Vietnamese agreeing
to repatriation at some foreseeable stage.
B.
Options designed to increase the rate of departures
(a) Voluntary repatriation to Vietnam
In general, UNHCR consider voluntary repatriation to be the most
desirable solution to refugee problems. But, not suprisingly, there
have been few volunteers for repatriation to Vietnam. Of the 20 who
have So far applied from Hong Kong, 14 have returned to Vietnam; the
other six applications are still pending. But The response to Mr
Hartling's approach in September 1984 (para 15(b) above) augurs
badly for any large scale repatriation to Vietnam; and unless the
Vietnamese government gives adequate assurances of humane treatment,
there are not likely to be many more volunteers.
(b) Local absorption
-
Hong
examples].
UNHCR also favour settlement in the country of first asylum.
Kong has absorbed over 14000 refugees from Indo-China since 1975.
Other South East Asian countries have taken more [ SEAD
Hong Kong's relative wealth might be cited as a reason to take a
greater number. But the territory is already densely populated; it
has had to deal with enormous immigration from China in the same period and Chinese legal immigrants still number over 27000 a year.
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