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5.
As regards involuntary repatriation, as stated by
the Secretary for Security in this Council on 6 February 1985,
if those arriving here were judged to be illegal travellers
rather than genuine refugees, then the Hong Kong Government
would consider it a viable option to return them to Vietnam
in the same way that all illegal travellers are returned
to their country of origin. However, we could only do this
provided that the Government of Vietnam would accept them
and provided that we could be satisfied that they would not
be treated inhumanely on their return. To date the
Vietnamese Government, with whom Her Majesty's Government
maintains contact, has considered repatriation on a case
by case basis, but has given no indication that it would be
prepared to meet either of these provisos.
6.
We do not think, therefore, that involuntary
repatriation is feasible at present.