COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS : 46TH SESSION
29 JANUARY TO 9 MARCH 1990
DEFENSIVE BRIEF
HKE
243124
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
0 7 MAR 1990
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
DESK
INDEX
Objectives
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- To win commendation for Hong Kong's preservation of first asylum
in the face of continuing major inflows of Vietnamese boat people.
- To win recognition that the only long term humane solution to the
Vietnamese boat people problem is the orderly and monitored return
in safety and dignity to Vietnam of all who are not refugees.
- To counter criticism of the repatriation of a first group of
non-volunteers on 12 December 1989.
- To counter criticism of screening and the conditions in the camps
in Hong Kong.
Points to Make
-
Lobbying Points
Hong Kong has provided a refuge of first asylum for close to
160,000 people over ten years. None have been turned away.
The Comprehensive Plan of Action endorsed by the International
Conference on IndoChinese Refugees in June 1989 established the
principle that all those determined not to be refugees should return to their country of origin.
The great majority of those determined not to be refugees in Hong Kong have not volunteered to return to Vietnam. Some means of
returning them is now urgently required.
AG5AKI
3