CONFIDENTIAL
TEXAAA
IMMEDIATE
ZCZC
CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG
TELNO
OF 1010157 AUGUST 89
INFO IMMEDIATE HANOI, UKMIS GENEVA, WASHINGTON, PARIS
YOUR TELNO 2624 VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE : REPATRIATION
1. Ministers are well aware of the difficulties you have been
encountering in assembling candidates for the first batch of non
volunteers They are also acutely conscious of the extreme
delicacy of the operation, particularly against the background of
media speculation and extreme pressures that have arisen since
news of the plans first Leaked out.
2. The Governor had useful talks about the problem in London on
7 August and emphasised to Ministers the pressures in Hong Kong,
not only of sheer numbers, but also of public opinion. All this
underlines the need to make an early start with mandatory
repatriation to Vietnam of those screened out. But Ministers
attach particular importance to ensuring that the crucial first operation in the series should not in any way misfire and provoke
criticism of a reaction in the camps which would make the
subsequent return of further groups more difficult (if not
impossible) to carry out. That would only serve to compound our
difficulties.
3
We face
a
number of immediate difficulties. It is clear that
HKD
CCD HASWELL
270 2652
by