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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.
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.
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