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DATE
Hong Kong Department
: 5 May 1988
HKD 248 Mr Paul
Mr McLaren
5/
SEAD
RAY 1988
UNO
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG
Wigs
Miss Slater 1J-Nid5
PA
1. I telephoned the Governor this morning to ask about work in the
Hong Kong Government on a possible new policy towards Vietnamese
boat people. I said I was particularly anxious to establish where
we would have reached by the time of the Secretary of State's visit
to Hong Kong at the end of the month.
2. The Governor said that his officials were hard at work on the
details of a possible new policy involving screening and the
detention of those boat people who did not meet accepted criterion
to be treated as refugees. A lot of practical arrangements would
have to be made locally if such a policy was to be put into effect.
It was also necessary to work out what accompanying international
action was necessary. A meeting was to be held in Government House
tomorrow to review progress.
3. Sir D Wilson said he had not yet come to any conclusions about
the timing of the introduction of a new policy. The two crucial
factors were the rate of arrival of these people and the political
pressure generated locally. Both were being markedly increased.
The wave of new arrivals in the past few weeks had caused very
serious practical problems over handling and accommodation. There
were rumours that a further 20 boats were on the way. Where the
local political scene were concerned, the OMELCO panel would be
putting policy recommendations to an in-house OMELCO meeting
tomorrow. He did not know precisely what these recommendations
would amount to, but he assumed that they would involve a change of policy towards screening and indefinite detention, together with an
effort to get others to pay a larger proportion of the costs of accommodating the boat people.
CONFIDENTIAL