2108
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 5 July 1989
The Hong Kong Government and the British Government should try various ways to iron out the problem as soon as possible. As pointed out in the Foreign Affairs Committee report on Hong Kong, in face of the declining level of acceptances by resettlement countries and the massive influx of Vietnamese boat people, the Hong Kong Government has no other alternatives but to introduce the screening policy. I agree that in identifying the political refugees from the non-political ones by way of screening, the Government may treat the non-political refugees as illegal immigrants and repatriate them to their place of origin under the relevant immigration ordinance. At the end of his visit to Hong Kong, the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey HOWE, disclosed that Britain and Vietnam have made some progress on the issue of mandatory repatriation. This piece of news is encouraging, but I hope Britain will announce details of the progress as soon as possible.
As regards the United States of America which has all along been opposed to forced repatriation of the Vietnamese boat people, the FAC suggests that the British Government should make it clear to the United States Government that in adopting such an opposition stance, it should take up the responsibility of arranging for the resettlement of these boat people overseas. I support this proposal.
In dealing with the Vietnamese boat people stranded in Hong Kong, we should also make efforts in deterring the influx of new arrivals. Most of the Vietnamese boat people sail along the coastline of Guangxi Province of Mainland China and call at some coastal towns for supplies before coming to Hong Kong. Therefore, just as the FAC has proposed, the British Government should closely liaise with the Chinese Government in seeking their help in blocking the boat people from coast-hopping to Hong Kong.
On the other hand, the international community should actively offer assistance to the Vietnamese Government to help them in economic development and providing their people with a stable livelihood. An overwhelming majority of the Vietnamese boat people leave their homeland because of the bleak economic situation there and the difficulty in earning a living. They hope to find greener pasture overseas. It is believed that when the economic situation in Vietnam improves the number of Vietnamese fleeing their country will decrease considerably. This is a scenario the people of Hong Kong long for.
The Foreign Affairs Committee states in its report on Hong Kong that it would be impracticable to grant the right of abode in Britain to all British Dependent Territories Citizens (BDTCs) and recommends that the right of abode in Britain should be given only to those BDTCs holding key positions in the Civil Service and the private sector. The Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey HOWE, also repeated this line of thought during his recent visit to Hong Kong that it was impossible to grant the right of abode in Britain to all Hong Kong BDTCs. The approaches to this problem as proposed by Britain are disappointing and lamentable. These recommendations are impractical and I think Britain is only trying to evade her constitutional responsibility to the people of Hong Kong.