TNAG-0087-FCO40-123-Conditions-of-employment-for-Hong-Kong-Chinese-working-in-th-1969 — Page 97

(Mr. Burn has already been informed of this).

A more fundamental difficulty over passages

arises from the contractual obligation on an

employer to repatriate a worker. This clause is m

the contract as a result of Article 13 of the

International Labour Office Conventions to

which H.M.G. subscribes and in respect of which

the Hong Kong Government has made a Declaration

It can indeed be argued that

of Full Application.

the clause gives the unscrupulous worker an

unfair advantage, but it was made necessary to

correct much more extensive and vicious abuses

by employers in the past.

Mr. Burn has been made aware of most if

not all of these points in the past. The

recruitment of workers from Hong Kong involves

some risks which cannot be entirely eliminated.

A recruiter must weigh them against the

advantages of the operation and decide for

himself whether or not to proceed.

I am sending a similar letter to

Quintin Hogg since Mr. Burn and his firm have

made the same approach to him as they did to you.

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