CONFIDENTIAL
FM BANGKOK
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 493
OF 240915Z JULY 89
CONFIDENTIAL
HKB 243/a
153
146663 MDHIAN 4347
TOP COPY Q DIST ?
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, UKMIS GENEVA, HANOI, WASHINGTON
FROM UK DELEGATION TO ICIR STEERING COMMITTEE 2
YOUR TELNO 1349 TO WASHINGTON: VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE: REPATRIATION.
SUMMARY
1.
USEFUL AND STRAIGHT-TALKING BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS WITH US DELEGATION IN ADVANCE OF STEERING COMMITTEE ON REPATRIATION FROM HONG KONG. EXPLANATION OF HK/UK
INTENTIONS UNDER UK/SRV BILATERAL ARRANGEMENTS WHICH WERE
INTENDED TO BOLSTER CPA ARRANGEMENTS AND MAXIMISE RETURN TO
VIETNAM OF NON-REFUGEES. AMERICANS RECOGNIZE THAT IN BOTH
UK AND AMERICAN INTEREST THAT UNHCR SHOULD BE INVOLVED.
DETAIL
2.
IN LENGTHY BILATERAL DISCUSSION ON 23 JULY WITH
AMERICAN DELEGATION TO STEERING COMMITTEE 2 (LED BY JURY, AMERICAN COUNSELLOR FOR REFUGEE AFFAIRS, BANGKOK, NOT FUNSETH), WE WENT OVER THE GROUND ON REPATRIATION TO VIETNAM OF NON-REFUGEES UNDER CPA AND BILATERAL ARRANGEMENTS. WE EXPLAINED OUR INTENTIONS, EMPHASISING THAT FORCE WOULD NOT BE USED. OTHER ESSENTIAL FEATURES WERE RE-INTEGRATION ASSISTANCE AND MONITORING ON RETURN.
WE HAD ALREADY SECURED SRV GUARANTEES OF NON-PUNISHMENT.
3.
WE EXPRESSED DISMAY THAT THE AMERICANS HAD LOBBIED
AGAINST US WITH UNHCR AND OTHER ICG COUNTRIES. THEIR
POSITION SEEMED TO BE BASED ON A DELIBERATE
MISUNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE HAD IN MIND AND IN EFFECT WAS
AN ATTEMPT TO REWRITE THE UNDERSTANDINGS WHICH LAY BEHIND
THE CPA AND IMPOSE NEW CONDITIONS. WE RECOGNIZED THE
DOMESTIC POLITICAL PRESSURES ON THE ADMINISTRATION AND
CONGRESS ON THE SENSITIVE QUESTION OF REPATRIATION TO VIETNAM. FOR THIS REASON, THE CPA (WHICH IN OUR VIEW REPRESENTED THE HIGHEST COMMON FACTOR OF AGREEMENT FOR MULTILATERAL/INTERNATIONAL ACTION) LAID DOWN THE REQUIREMENT, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, OF VOLUNTARY
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