XN000022-1975-08-06 — Page 3

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1975

COMMENTING ON THE MUCH-PUBLICISED CASE OF THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEE CHILDREN, MR. LEE SAID THAT AT THE TIME A NUMBER OF ENQUIRIES HAD BEEN RECEIVED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY FOR THEIR ADOPTION. HOWEVER, THIS WAS NOT POSSIBLE, HE SAID, BECAUSE THE STATUS OF THE CHILDREN HAD NOT BEEN MADE CLEAR.

+IN SITUATIONS SUCH AS THAT UNDER WHICH THEY ARRIVED IN HONG KONG IT IS CERTAINLY VERY EASY TO BECOME EMOTIONAL AND WANT TO PLACE THESE IN NEW HOMES.

+BUT THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT THESE CHILDREN, AND OTHERS LIKE THEM, MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE ORPHANS OR EVEN AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION, MANY MAY STILL HAVE PARENTS FROM WHOM THEY HAVE BEEN SEPARATED AND WHO WOULD WISH TO BE REUNITED WITH THEM,+ HE SAID.

HE NOTED THAT, BASED ON PAST EXPERIENCE, THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CHILD WELFARE IN GENEVA HAD WARNED OF THE ERRORS OF WANTING TO LINK INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION POSSIBILITIES WITH THE EVACUATION OF CHILDREN IN TIMES OF DISASTER AND HAD SAID THAT THE DESIRE TO SAVE A CHILD BY ADOPTING IT IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES IS, IN TIME, A SELFISH ACT THAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

NOTE TO EDITORS :

COPIES OF THE FULL TEXT OF MR. LEE'S SPEECH ARE AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE G.1.S. NEWS ROOM, 6TH FLOOR, BEACONSFIELD HOUSE.

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