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"We have since put proposals to the Vietnamese authorities which, if implemented, should step up the pace of return of VMs newly arriving in the territory. These proposals will be on the agenda during the Refugee Coordinator's talks with the Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi on December 4. But that should not mean, nor does it require us to abandon the first asylum policy or does it contradict such a policy," he said.

Mr Lai said the abolition of the policy of first asylum would require the Marine Police to push off boats, which could be unseaworthy, which could have women and children on board.

"This would be contrary to the humanitarian principles on which our society is

founded.

"It would also feed ammunition to our critics, who seek to undermine what we have set out to achieve the early return to Vietnam of all 21,000 migrants in the territory in a humane way," he said.

Reiterating that abolition of the first asylum policy would only compound the difficulties, Mr Lai said he could not believe that anyone who was intent on bringing about a speedy and humane solution to the VM problem would seriously advocate that Hong Kong should go down this road.

Turning to the motion which calls for a commitment from the United Kingdom Government to take all VMs who have not been repatriated by July 1, 1997, Mr Lai pointed out that such a proposal was unhelpful.

"We have clearly seen the damage caused by legislative initiatives in the US Congress," he said.

In May, legislative initiatives introduced by some US Congressmen which, by creating false hopes of overseas resettlement for the non-refugees, caused voluntary repatriation in Hong Kong, and indeed in the Southeast Asian region to nosedive. Since May this year, only 750 migrants have chosen to go home.

Mr Lai said suggestions which encouraged the non-refugees to believe that they might be resettled elsewhere, if they delayed their return to Vietnam until 1997, undermined the repatriation efforts.

"It strikes a blow at the very heart of the CPA principle that the non-refugees must go home.