Text for an Early Day Motion to be tabled by the Officers of the
Conservative Back Bench Committee on Foreign Affairs.
VIETNAMESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN HONG KONG
That this House recognises that the problem of Vietnamese boat
people has now become acute in Hong Kong, with a total population of
Vietnamese immigrants close to 57,000, of whom over 38,000 are
likely to fail to acquire refugee status; notes that the vast
majority of these people have called at one or more ports on the
Chinese coast during the course of their journeys to Hong Kong and
that some of them have travelled most of the way by bus overland,
endorses the Comprehensive Plan of Action adopted in June by the
International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in Geneva,
including the principle that all those determined not to be refugees should return to their country of origin in accordance with
international practices reflecting the responsibilities of states towards their own citizens; recognises that the process of screening
in Hong Kong is thorough, fair and based on internationally accepted
criteria; notes that over 3,500 people have now been determined by
the screening process not to be refugees but, despite a reasonable
period for reflection, have shown very little inclination to
volunteer to return to Vietnam; accepts that, on the basis of
experience so far, a programme of voluntary return alone will not be
sufficient to deal with the scale of the problem; notes that other
western countries, while prepared to take from Hong Kong for
resettlement those who are genuine refugees, are not prepared to
accept non-refugees; and calls on the Foreign Secretary to make
arrangements to return to Vietnam all those who are not refugees,
provided that the Vietnamese Government undertakes not to subject
them to punishment or discrimination and that their treatment on
return to Vietnam is properly monitored.