XN000022-1991-11-09 — Page 3

N

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1991

"WE HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO GO SAFELY, SMOOTHLY, SOUNDLY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITH DIGNITY,'

ΓΙ

BACK,

HE SAID.

PLAN THE SECOND "WHAT WE WILL NOW BE DOING IS BEGINNING TO

WITH THE WE

DISCUSSIONS FLIGHT.

ALSO LOOK FORWARD TO VERY EARLY

ORDERLY RETURN VIETNAMESE

ON PLANNING THE DETAILS OF AN GOVERNMENT

IN OUR CAMPS PROGRAMME FOR THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE ALREADY HERE."

OF

THAT

ASKED IF HE WAS SURPRISED BY THE RESISTANCE PUT UP BY SOME THE RETURNEES, MR LEEKS SAID: "I THINK YOU WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT VOLUNTEERS. SOME OF THEM HAVE GONE BACK, AS YOU COULD SEE, QUITE WILLINGLY, OTHERS HAVE MADE CLEAR THAT THEY ARE GOING WERE BACK RELUCTANTLY. WHERE THAT HAPPENED, YOU COULD SEE THAT THEY HELPED ONTO THE AIRCRAFT.

"I THINK IT WAS DONE WITH THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM OF COMPULSION BY AND THE POLICE. I THINK THEY HANDLED IT WITH TREMENDOUS SENSITIVITY

OVER THE OF COURSE THIS IS THE WAY SADLY DEPORTATIONS ARE DONE ALL WORLD.'

"

MR LEEKS WENT ON TO EXPLAIN THAT SOME OF THE SINGLE MEN IN AIRPORT TRANSIT CENTRE HAD BEEN TRYING TO PERSUADE OTHERS TO PUT UP SHOW.

THE

A

"WE

WORKING VERY HARD TO COUNSEL

TO

WE

THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXPLAIN THAT THEY ALL HAVE TO GO BACK. I THINK WITH MANY OF THEM SUCCEEDED, AS YOU COULD SEE. THERE WERE A FEW PEOPLE WHO WERE CLEARLY UNHAPPY ABOUT GOING BACK, HE SAID.

11

"WE DEALT WITH THAT AS SENSITIVELY AS WE POSSIBLY COULD. CAN SEE WHAT HAPPENED AND YOU MUST JUDGE IT FOR YOURSELF."

MR LEEKS EXPRESSED THE HOPE THAT BY THE TIME THEY ARRIVED IN HANOI THEY WOULD REALISE THE FACT THAT "THEY ARE BACK HOME THAN WASTING THE REST OF THEIR LIVES IN HONG KONG".

YOU

BACK RATHER

THE WHOLE OF "THE

FOR THESE PEOPLE IS TO WASTE ALTERNATIVE

KONG,' THEIR LIVES AND THEIR CHILDREN'S LIVES, STUCK IN CAMPS IN HONG HE SAID.

то LEAD

TRADE REFERENCE

ASKED IF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MORNING WOULD SANCTION BY THE UNITED STATES, MR LEEKS SAID: "I THINK THE TO TRADE SANCTION SOUNDS EXTRAORDINARILY EXTREME. THE FACT IS THAT AS WE CAN, YOU HAVE SEEN WE HAVE BEEN AS SENSITIVELY AND CAREFULLY AS RETURNING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO VIETNAM, THE AMERICANS OF COURSE ALSO RETURN

I HAVE THE IMPRESSION MEXICANS TO MEXICO, HAITIANS TO HAITI. THAT THEY DO NOT TRY TO DO IT IN FRONT OF THE WORLD'S PRESS.

NOTHING

"WE HAVE TRIED TO DO THAT AND TO SHOW YOU THAT WE HAVE TO HIDE AND THAT WE ARE HANDLING THIS VERY, VERY SENSITIVELY INDEED."

ASKED SEDATED, MR REASONS.

TO CONFIRM REPORTS THAT SOME OF THE RETURNEES HAVE BEEN

SAID THAT NO ONE HAD BEEN LEEKS

SEDATED

FOR

SECURITY

/"THE SITUATION