HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -15 February 1989
香港立法局 ——————一九八九年二月十五日
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SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Sir, these comparisons with illegal immigrants from China are, of course, very understandable and they are ones with which I have a good deal of sympathy. But the fact of the matter is that, of course, we do not have a land border with Vietnam. We are indeed removed from Vietnam by several days' travel by sea and this is, if you like, one of the major problems that we have to face. We cannot send people back within 24 hours as we do with illegal immigrants from China. We do not have a close daily contact with officials from Vietnam as we do with officials from China, and there is no alternative but to accept people coming to Hong Kong from Vietnam as entrants without proper documentation who have to be assessed on arrival as being either refugees or as non-refugees. I am afraid that is the root of the problem, Sir, and in those circumstances I can see little purpose in reconsidering at the moment our screening policy.
MR. CHEONG: Sir, with due respect, I know the Secretary is under very tough pressure, but he has not really answered Mr. Micheal CHENG's question. The fact that Her Majesty's Government representatives may be present in the discussion cannot serve as an answer to us on whether or not Her Majesty's Government is aware of and agrees with the involuntary repatriation policy. If not, would the involuntary repatriation policy be broached and cleared with the sovereign state, the United Kingdom Government?
SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Sir, Her Majesty's Government is aware of and does agree with our policy.
鄭德健議員問:興建開放式難民營的費用十分龐大,由千萬至億多元不等。政府會否考慮促請聯 合國難民專員公署負擔興建費用?
SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: The answer to that, Sir, is "no", because that would be in conflict with the Statement of Understanding which we have concluded with the UNHCR.
MRS. CHOW: Sir, in the absence of any definitive solution to a very big problem, will the Secretary please inform this Council whether the sharing of the financial burden has ever been raised with Her Majesty's Government?
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