CONFIDENTIAL
victualling and refuelling boat people on the way to Hong Kong. I shall be seeing the new Chinese Foreign Minister in New York tomorrow. The aim must to be to maximise the deterrent effect of the new policy, and thus
sharply reduce the rate of arrival.
3.
Even if the policy works, there will nevertheless be some build-up in Hong Kong of Vietnamese detainees with
no prospect but eventual return to Vietnam. If the deterrent proves less effective the build-up will
correspondingly be greater. I see no alternative to accepting that risk: in practice many of those already in Hong Kong are in that position, and we should therefore be no worse off than we are now. I am under no illusion about the difficulty of getting the Vietnamese to take people back. But we must step up the pressure on them; I shall be seeing the Vietnamese Foreign Minister as well
in New York tomorrow.
4:
4
4. We have told both UNHCR and the US government informally that we have been considering screening. UNHCR would like us to delay until the autumn; in the hope that the Vietnamese position will have softened by then. I regard this as unlikely, and in any case do not think we can afford the delay. The US reaction has been
non-committal. I would expect the other main resettlement countries to show understanding.
5. I have considered the international legal implications of the proposed policy, and I believe that it is defensible. We shall be criticised in some
quarters, as we are now over the closed camps. But I was encouraged when Lord Chitnis and a delegation from the British Refugee Council told me two weeks ago that they would understand the introduction of screening.
CONFIDENTIAL