TNAG-0446-FCO40-511-Discussions-with-Sir-Murray-MacLehose--Governor-of-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 51

?eqistry HKK 14/5 DRAFT

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top Secret.

Secret.

Confidential.

Restricted.

Unclassified.

PRIVACY MARKING

To:-

CONFIDENTIAL

LETTER

A E Donald Esq

Political Adviser

Colonial Secretariat

HONG KONG

In Confidence

cc:

Chanceries:

Saigon Phnom Penh Peking

to

Type 1 +

FROM

A C Stuart

Telephone No. Ext,

Department

POLICY ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM SOUTH-EAST ASIA

1.

I told you in my letter of 9 October that we would be submitting your letter of 27 September to Ministers. Lord Goronwy-Roberts has now been consulted and broadly agrees with the guidelines set out in your letter, provided always that we are consulted in cases where there may be difficulty.

2.

You referred in your letter to the general conditions laid down by Lord Goronwy-Roberts in his meeting with the Governor on 25 July. These were that

future returns to South Vietnam would be defensible if

he could say in Parliament after the event:

(a)

(b)

that in the light of individual

interrogation of members of the group, and of assurances given by the Saigon

Government, IM Government were satisfied

that there were no special circumstances

which could have justified refusal to

return;

that members of the group had established no claim to residence in Hong Kong and

there were no special medical or

humanitarian considerations;

(c)

that previous cases had shown that the

assurances of the South Vietnamese

Government were reliable;

and

(a)

that the group had therefore been returned, with the exception (where appropriate) of

those to whom such special considerations

applied.

/mhede