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4.
After agreement with Vietnam last October on a set of principles
on the return of Vietnamese illegal immigrants from Hong Kong, we
have successfully repatriated on three flights (in November,
December and February) a group of double backers (people who had
previously left Hong Kong but had turned up again claiming asylum)
and most of those who arrived in Hong Kong after 29 October 1991
(ORP I), when the new arrangements came into effect. Pleading
financial problems over re-integrating large numbers of returnees,
the Vietnamese authorities have been stalling on implementing the
next phase of the agreement (ORP II), involving the repatriation of
those migrants who arrived in Hong Kong before 29 October 1991 but
then refused to return voluntarily despite being finally screened
out under UNHCR approved procedures.
5. We have worked hard with UNHCR, the EC Commission and the Hong Kong Government to ensure that financial assistance to Vietnam to cope with returnees is sufficient and is properly directed to the
local communities most affected, with an emphasis on creating employment opportunities. Agreement on the main phase of an EC sponsored re-integration programme is imminent. This may have
persuaded Vietnam to go ahead with ORP II, at least on a trial
basis.
6.
It
Vu Khoan's offer of a trial programme is worth taking up; one
flight a month during the summer will help achieve our main purpose of-putting further pressure on the camp population to volunteer.
will also allow us to return new arrivals (who have been too few to
warrant a further ORP I flight) and criminal offenders whom the
Vietnamese are now insisting must be returned in groups. It could
also lead in due course to a financial commitment from Hong Kong to
help kick-start a full-scale ORP II.
GH2ACN
PRATT AMM que