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The Vietnamese Government has agreed to take back 3,600 Vietnamese migrants per month; 1,800 via the reception centre in Hanoi; and the remaining 1,800 via Ho Chi Minh City. Since the reception centre in Hanoi is used solely by Hong Kong, this in effect means that the Vietnamese Government has agreed to receive 1,800 Vietnamese migrants per month from Hong Kong.
These are important steps forward in expediting the return of the Vietnamese migrants. The message promulgated by the international community at the Geneva Conference is clear:
PR
First: the status determination procedures have been completed. There will be no review of the outcome of the status determination process.
Secondly: there is no prospect whatsoever of the Vietnamese migrants being resettled overseas from the camps. It is in their best interests to return to Vietnam voluntarily as soon as possible, in order to benefit from the re-integration programmes and the economic development taking place in Vietnam.
Thirdly: if the migrants still refuse to return to Vietnam under the Voluntary Repatriation Programme, they will be returned under the Orderly Return Programme (ORP), which is the internationally recognized alternative to voluntary repatriation.
We welcome the decisions reached in the Geneva Conference, which sets the framework for a speedier resolution of the VM problem. The quicker we can effect their return to Vietnam, the quicker we can reduce the financial burden on Hong Kong. Nevertheless, this is only the beginning of a new chapter in the handling of the Vietnamese Migrants problem. There is still a lot of work to be done to translate what has been promised into reality. That will impose a particularly heavy burden on the UNHCR and all the departments involved in the Hong Kong Government, in particular the Correctional Services Department, which have risen to this challenge in difficult circumstances. We are determined to push ahead, building on the framework agreed recently in Geneva,
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