CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 2794
OF 210845Z JULY 88
AND TO PRIORITY
HANOI
CONFIDENTIAL
TOP COPY Q DIST ?
HKD 243/8
075313
MDLIAN 4288
RF
22 JUL 1988
N
INFO PRIORITY SINGAPORE, MANILA, JAKARTA, BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN INFO PRIORITY WASHINGTON, CANBERRA, OTTAWA, TOKYO, PEKING INFO PRIORITY UKMIS GENEVA, KUALA LUMPUR, BANGKOK
MY 3RD IPT: VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE: TALKS WITH VIETNAMESE
FOLLOWING ARE DRAFT DEFENSIVE POINTS:
A. VIETNAM CAN ONLY TAKE BACK VOLUNTARY CASES
1. NOT EFFECTIVE AS DETERRENT. ONLY A FEW CASES. MORE IMPORTANT:
WRONG IN PRINCIPLE. THESE ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. NO REASON WHY
SHOULD NOT GO BACK. IMPORTANT FOR VIETNAM TO BE SEEN TO ADHERE TO
NORMAL INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE. SQUARE BRACKETS BEGIN AS APPROPRIATE:
THIS IS VIEW OF UNHCR. ALREADY EXPRESSED TO VIETNAMESE. SQUARE
BRACKETS ENDS
2. READY OF COURSE TO WORK OUT SCHEME WHICH COULD START WITH CLEARING BACKLOG OF VOLUNTARY RETURNS, BUT MUST BE CLEARLY PART OF
WIDER PACKAGE.
B. VIETNAM A DEVELOPING COUNTRY. CANNOT AFFORD TO TAKE BOAT PEOPLE BACK. MUST HAVE ASSISTANCE FROM UK AND HK/AS PART OF AN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME
3. MUST CONCENTRATE ON PRESENT PRACTICAL PROBLEM. THIS IS NOT A
NEGOTIATION ABOUT AID. HMG'S POSITION WELL KNOWN. ANY FUNDAMENTAL
CHANGE WOULD DEPEND ON PROGRESS TOWARDS ENDING VIETNAM'S OCCUPATION OF CAMBODIA.
4. NOTE UNHCR HAVE STARTED DISCUSSION WITH VIETNAMESE WITH ENDORSEMENT OF OTHER GOVERNMENTS, POSSIBILITY OF LIMITED AID THROUGH UNHCR CHANNELS DIRECTLY AIMED AT REINTEGRATION OF RETURNING BOAT PEOPLE INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES. SUGGEST THIS IS BEST LINE FOR VIETNAMESE TO FOLLOW WOULD NOT EXCLUDE SOME PARTICIPATION BY HMG.
5. BUT OUR TASK TO CONCENTRATE ON STOPPING FLOW AND WAYS OF
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