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MR MAUDE: YES. THE HISTORY OF THIS ISSUE IS THAT EVERY TIME ANY MINISTER EXPRESSES A VIEW ABOUT BOAT PEOPLE, AT ALL, IT IS INTERPRETED AS A RADICAL SHIFT IN POLICY IN ONE DIRECTION OR ANOTHER. I REMEMBER BACK IN OCTOBER WHEN JOHN MAJOR, WHEN HE WAS FOREIGN SECRETARY, ANSWERED A QUESTION IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN ABSOLUTELY ROUTINE TERMS REFLECTING NO MORE THAN WHAT HE AND I AND OTHERS HAD SAID MANY TIMES BEFORE. HEADLINES IN EVERY SINGLE NEWSPAPER THE NEXT DAY WERE: "POLICY CHANGE IN FAVOUR OF MANDATORY REPATRIATION' THE FACT IS, IF YOU HAVE A REFUGEE POLICY, A POLICY OF FIRST ASYLUM WHERE YOU ACCEPT PEOPLE IN, YOU THEN HAVE TO SUBJECT THEM TO SCREENING: THOSE WHO ARE REFUGEES ARE RE-SETTLED AND THAT IS ALL GOING AHEAD: THOSE WHO ARE NOT REFUGEES HAVE TO BE SENT BACK TO THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. AND THAT INVOLVES, IF PEOPLE DO NOT VOLUNTEER, THEM BEING SENT BACK INVOLUNTARILY. NOW THE VOLUNTARY PROCESS IS GOING VERY WELL AT THE MOMENT. THERE IS STILL A BACKLOG OF PEOPLE. I NEGOTIATED IN HANOI A FIVEFOLD INCREASE IN THE NUMBERS PER MONTH WHO WOULD BE ACCEPTED BACK, AND THAT IS GOOD NEWS AND IT MEANS THAT AT THE PRESENT RATE OF PROGRESS THE BACKLOG OF VOLUNTEERS WILL HAVE GONE BACK TO VIETNAM PERHAPS SOMETIME DURING THE SUMMER. BUT UNDERLYING THIS AT EVERY STAGE HAS BEEN THE UNDERSTANDING: THOSE WHO DON'T VOLUNTEER AND I THINK IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE, PERHAPS 40,000 NON-REFUGEES IN THE CAMPS WILL VOLUNTEER THOSE WHO DON'T VOLUNTEER WILL HAVE TO BE SENT BACK WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT, AND THAT MEANS MANDATORY REPATRIATION.
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ALAN LO: THE POINT IS, THE TIMING. THE U.S. PROPOSED A ONE- YEAR FREEZE PERIOD FOR THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE
MR MAUDE: WELL WE HAVE NOT ACCEPTED THAT. WE HAVE MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE VIETNAMESE. WE HAVE NOT, SINCE DECEMBER, SOUGHT TO USE THAT AGREEMENT BUT WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT WHICH THEY HAVE SPECIFICALLY REAFFIRMED TO ME.
AND MANDATORY REPATRIATION LIES BEHIND THIS POLICY. NOW IT HAS TO BE UNDERSTOOD IN VIETNAM THAT THERE IS NOWHERE FOR THESE PEOPLE TO GO; THERE IS NO PROMISED LAND AT THE END OF IT ALL. ALL THEY GET BY COMING TO HONG KONG IS A SPELL IN AN OVERCROWDED DETENTION CENTRE AND A RETURN TRIP TO VIETNAM AT SOME STAGE, AT SOME MEANS. NOT ALL OF THEM ARE GOING TO BE SENT BACK STRAIGHT AWAY. THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM; IT IS A BIG PROBLEM FOR HONG KONG. BUT UNDERLYING ALL THIS HAS то BE THE UNDERSTANDING THAT MANDATORY REPATRIATION IS AT THE END OF IT ALL.
LAU CHUN TO (HK ECONOMIC JOURNAL): I SUPPOSE ONE OF YOUR MAJOR PURPOSES OF COMING TO HONG KONG IS TO FIND OUT THE REACTION OF HONG KONG PEOPLE TO THE NATIONALITY PACKAGE. HOW WILL YOU SUMMARISE THE REACTION OF HONG KONG PEOPLE WHEN YOU GO BACK? WOULD YOU AGREE THAT, I MEAN, THE PACKAGE HAS A LACK OF WIDE PUBLIC SUPPORT BOTH HERE AND IN BRITAIN?
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