FROM BRITEMB WTON
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A.
Factual Findings
1
Executive Summury
vii
In 1979, at an international conference on Vietnamese and other Indochigese refugees. Southeast Asian nations and Hong Kong agreed to gram: temporary refuge (so-called "first asylan") to Indochinese arriving at their borders. In turn, concerned participating governments, including the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, France, and Canada, agreed to accept the Indochinese for resettlement. Furthermore, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (SRV) agreed to implement an orderly departure program for the legal enigration of Vietnamese directly from Vietnam.
The 1979 Agreen.em began to unravel in the 1950s, as the intake of Vietnamese boat people by first asylum nations continued and the rate of resettle:neut to third countries declined. The nations of first asylum initiated deterrence efforts of their own, including detention for new arrivals and suspension of resettlement processing. The number of Vietnamese arrivals continued to rise, and first asylum nations applied harsher deterrence measures in 1988. Thailand and Indonesia reportedly pushed arriving Vietnamese boats back to sea, resulting in several hundred reported deaths. In Thailand and Malaysia, new arrivals were cut off from resettlement opportunities. Qa June 15, 1988, Hong Kong announced a screening program," effective immediately, to determine the eligibility of new arrivals for refugee status. Those determined to be refugees would be eligible for resettlement abroad. Those found noi to be refugees would be detained in Hong Kong as illegal immigrants, to be repatriated once a satisfactory agreement with the SRV was reached. The decision, which was made without awaiting another international conference on
The following is a synopsis of the full tactual discussion, which is found with supporting documentation at Chapter II.
نتال
'ong" is the term popularly used to refer to Hong Kong's procedure for on of eligibility for refugee status. The formal term "refugec status determination procedure" more accurately connotes the legal effect of the procedure under international low.
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Indochinese :efugees, is likely to permanently change the face of first asylum in Southeast Asia.
The Hong Kong (HK) government announced its screening decision in tandem with predictions that no more than 10 percent of those arriving were "genuine refugees." Although the HK government affirmed its intentions to carry out screening in accordance with international guidelines, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refused to participate in the process until September 20, 1988, when a Statement of Understanding was reached Pursuant to the between the HK government and UNHCR. Understanding, UNHCR agreed to monitor screening interviews, review files subject to negative determinations, and arrange legal advice for asylum seekers wishing to challenge denials of refugee
status.
Prior to its agreement with UNHCR, the HK government conducted screening interviews with approximately 1300 asylum seekers. Applicants were assigned at random to government teams of one examiner and one interpreter each. The asylum seekers had no adequate explanation of the purpose of the screening interview, and no assistance of any kind prior to the interview. The questionnaire used in the interview failed to contain questions in a number of areas critical to an accurate determination of Vietnamese eligibility. Although some of the government interpreters did not comprehend the dialect or expressions used by some asylum applicants, the interviews containing the originai Vicinamese responses were not recorded.
The process as devised provided rejected applicants the right to lodge an objection with the Governor in Council. Although judicial review in cases with procedural irregularities was also provided by law, the right to this review was meaningless in practice because no legal representation or notice of the opportunity was given the asylum seekers. In addition, no priority processing was given to unaccompanied minors or family reunification cases, and no exemptions were made for Amerasian children fathered by U.S. soldiers during the time of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. As of the date of the agreement with UNHCR, the Iminigration Department had
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