CONFIDENTIAL
136645
MDLIAN
3468
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HANOI
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 414
MCD 243/S
OF 11055OZ NOVEMBER 88
AND TO PRIORITY HONG KONG
ONS
INFO ROUTINE UKMIS GENEVA
;
TOP COPY
a DIST ?
BANGKOK, BANDAR SERI BAGAWAN, JAKARTA,
SINGPORE, TOKYO,
INFO ROUTINE KUALA LUMP UR MANILA
INFO ROUTINE OTTAWA WASHINGTON
*
CALL ON FOREIGN MINISTER BOAT PEOPLE
CANBERRA
1. DURING MY CALL ON THACH YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, WE DISCUSSED THE
PROBLEM OF BOAT PEOPLE.
2. I VOLUNTEERED THAT THE BILATERAL TALKS HAD BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND
THAT THE PROBLEM SEEMED TO BE WELL ON THE WAY TO BEING RESOLVED.
IT WAS GOOD THAT PLANS WERE WELL ADVANCED FOR A FIRST BATCH OF2?39 (LAST GROUP UNDEC)
RETURNEES BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR IT WAS IMPORTANT TO KEEP UP THE MOMENTUM SO AS TO REINFORCE THE DETERRENT EFFECT AND ENCOURAGE MORE VOLUNTEERS. I ADDED THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD IF MORE VOLUNTEERS
CAME FORWARD BUT THAT WE MUST FACE UP TO THE FACT THAT AT SOME STAGE WE SHOULD BE DEALING WITH NON-VOLUNTEERS.
3. IN RESPONSE, THACH SAID THAT HE BELEIVED THAT A WELL ARRANGED
PROGRAMME OF RETURNEES SHOULD ENCOURAGE MORE VOLUNTEERS. HOWEVER,
HE UNDERSTOOD OUR PROBLEM. IF THERE WAS A GOOD SPIRIT OF COOPERTION
BETWEEN US THEN THE PROBLEM COULD BE SOLVED. HE WAS LESS HAPPY
ABOUT THE AGREEMENT WITH THE MALAYSIANS WHO WERE TRYING TO SEND
ALL BOAT PEOPLE BACK EN MASSE RATHER THAN IN A PHASED MANNER
STARTING WITH VOLUNTEERS. I STRESSED THAT IT WAS OF COURSE OUR
INTENTIION TO RETURN ALL SCREENED OUT BOAT PEOPLE THACH SAID THAT HE HAD RECENTLY DISCUSSED WITH CHEYSSON, THE EC OFFER OF AID INCLUDING THE IDEA THAT IT SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO
ASSIST RETURNEES' COMMUNITIES. I INDICATED THAT HMG WOULD NOT BE
HAPPY ABOUT DEVELOPMENT AID.
4. AT ONE POINT THACH MADE THE INTERESTING SUGGESTION THAT BOAT PEOPLE WHO HAD SUCCESSFULLY REINTEGRATED INTO VIETNAM SHOULD BE
INVITED BACK TO HONG KONG TO TELL THEIR STORIES TO VIETNAMESE
STILL IN HONG KONG. SIMILARLY, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG COULD VISIT VIETNAM TO GET A FIRST HAND IMPRESSION
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CONFIDENTIAL