WILL HMG AGREE TO FORCIBLE REPATRIATION OF NON REFUGEES?
Those boat people who are screened out must face the fact that their future lies in Vietnam, not in the West, nor in a detention
centre in Hong Kong.
As the logic and inevitability of this sinks in, I have no doubt that non-refugee boat people will opt for returning to Vietnam.
- A number have already volunteered to go back. Vietnamese have assured us they will not be punished. Arrangements will be monitored by UNHCR. Once it is clear that those returning have nothing to fear, others will undoubtedly follow their example.
[IF PRESSED] The logic of our policy and the position of those who do not have refugee status is that they must go back. At the end of the day there can be no alternative.
UNHCR HAVE INDICATED THAT THEY WILL ONLY TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR
"VOLUNTEERS"
We have been concentrating our immediate efforts on the return of those who have volunteered to go back.
We hope that the arrangements being set up for their reception and return to normal life will convince others to come forward.
We of course realise that this will not happen overnight. It will take time for the word to get around; and for people to realise that the arrangements work well and they have nothing to
fear.
The arrangements we have made with the UNHCR naturally cover the volunteers in the first phase and others that follow.
This is the stage we are at; and we will proceed on a stage by
stage basis.