CONFIDENTIAL
4.
We have also considered termination or suspension of first
asylum in Hong Kong. This would be even more controversial than
mandatory repatriation and might actually exacerbate the situation
in Hong Kong. We judge that the Hong Kong authorities would not in
the last resort be able to implement such a policy. If boat people scuttled their vessels when turned away (likely because they would
face a long journey over open ocean to reach any alternative haven
eg the Philippines over 500 miles), the Hong Kong authorities
would have to rescue them and put them ashore in Hong Kong: to allow
them to drown would be tantamount to murder. The problem of what to
do with these people once landed, and how to return them to Vietnam
would remain.
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CONFIDENTIAL