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The
Legal
proposed
and
amendment to
strengthen existing
provisions for the detention of vietnamese asylum seekers Will revive the great local and overseas media
interest in the subject. The public are expected to
Welcome measures that make clear our resolve to detain all asylum seekers from Vietnam pending determination of
to maintain order in detention centres. The amendments will be seen as reaffirming that Vietnamese asylum seekers should be properly detained
pending screening and that all will eventually need to Leave Hong Kong either as refugees for resettlement or as
non-refugees for repatriation.
their
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status,
The introduction of the bill may on the one hand revive local calls for the abolition of the policy of
flrst asylum because ot the lack of progress in
repatriation of those confirmed to be illegal immigrants, and on the other, especially overseas, cause human rights
groups το criticize our policy of lengthy detention of
all asylum seekers.
CONFIDENTIAL ##
機密:
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