111OOOZ
REFERRED HD/SEAD FOR DIST ADVICE
LNMDAN 7528
CONFIDENTIAL
HMLNAN 1192
DD 1 OOZ FCOLN
FM HOKON TO FCOLN
110922Z JUN
GRS 381
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 111000Z FCO
TELNO 1876
OF 110922Z JUNE 91
-
INFO IMMEDIATE HANOI, UKMIS GENEVA
FOR COLVIN, SEAD.
REF TEL SUGGESTED
14%
YOUR TELEGRAM NO. 1094: VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS: OMELCO.
Dorlal
MWB 027/2
ED
.991
1. AS YOU KNOW (MY TELNO 1824), WE SHARE OMELCO'S CONCERN THAT THE IMC CONCEPT MAY, UNFORTUNATELY, PROVE TO BE A GOOD IDEA THAT HAS COME TOO LATE TO RETRIEVE THE RAPIDLY DETERIORATING SITUATION HERE. WE TOO HAVE EXPLAINED TO OMELCO FOLLOWING THE WASHINGTON TALKS THE APPARENT SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SHIFT IN THE U.S. POSITION. BUT OMELCO ARE RESPONDING TO GENUINE PUBLIC PRESSURE ON THIS ISSUE AS MUCH AS, IF NOT MORE THAN, THEY ARE LEADING IT. THEIR HUNCH THAT WE MAY NOT ULTIMATELY BE ABLE TO PRODUCE AN IMC ARRANGEMENT THAT MEETS BOTH U.S. AND VIETNAMESE REQUIREMENTS: AND THAT THIS WHOLE PROCESS MAY SIMPLY BE TOO SLOW REFLECTS CONCERNS THAT WE SHARE AND, NO DOUBT, DO YOU.
2. WE BELIEVE THAT OMELCO'S ARGUMENTS CAN BEST BE MET BY REASSURANCES FROM MINISTERS THAT THEY SHARE BOTH THE GROWING CONCERN AMONG PEOPLE HERE THAT THE VIETNAMESE PROBLEM IS MOVING TOWARDS THE POINT OF UNMANAGEABILITY, AND HKG'S DETERMINATION TO ENSURE THAT IT DOES NOT REACH THAT POINT. THIS MAY ENTAIL TAKING SOME DIFFICULT DECISIONS, WHICH HAVE ALREADY BEEN OUTLINED TO OMELCO (MY TELNO 1458).
3. WE WOULD ADVISE THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE SHOULD NOT/NOT REVEAL THAT WE ARE THINKING OF RETURNING DOUBLE-BACKERS. IF HE DOES SO, THIS NEWS WOULD BE RELAYED BACK HERE AND BECOME PUBLIC VERY QUICKLY. WE RECOMMEND THAT INSTEAD HE TAKE THE BROADER LINE THAT HMG RECOGNISE THAT, ALTHOUGH THE IMC ROUTE IS A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD, IT MAY SIMPLY BE TOO SLOW. HMG AND HKG WILL THEREFORE BE PUSHING THE VIETNAMESE VERY HARD AT THE FORTHCOMING TALKS TO IMPLEMENT THE CPA ARRANGEMENTS ON THE RETURN OF THE SCREENED-OUT IN PARALLEL WITH WHATEVER FURTHER DISCUSSIONS TAKE PLACE ON THE IMC IDEA. THE SECRETARY OF STATE MIGHT REASONABLY ADD THAT HE CANNOT GO INTO DETAILS AS TO HOW OR WHEN WE WOULD HOPE TO BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT SUCH RETURN ARRANGEMENTS.
4. FOR YOUR OWN INFORMATION, WE WILL BEGIN SCREENING DOUBLE- BACKERS (AND OTHER UNSCREENED PEOPLE IN NEI KWU CHAU) NEXT WEEK. WE HAVE FORMULATED BROAD PLANS FOR RETURNING THESE PEOPLE BY AIR, AND WOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE DETAILED PLANS READY BY THE END OF THIS MONTH, ALTHOUGH THIS COULD BE ADVANCED IF NECESSARY.
WILSON
61
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