CONFIDENTIAL
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5. WE ARE CONTINUALLY CONSIDERING APPLICATIONS FROM PERSONS ABROAD TO ENTER HONG KONG ON COMPASSIONATE OR HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS. BUT IT IS OUR PRACTICE TO REFUSE ENTRY TO PERSONS ARRIVING WITHOUT PERMISSION AND TO INSIST THAT THEY SUBMIT APPLICATIONS FROM THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.
6. 1 PROPOSE THAT WE SHOULD FOLLOW THE LOGIC OF THIS PRACTICE HERE. IF THE GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH VIETNAM WOULD AGREE TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OR SOME OTHER INTERNATIONAL BODY INTERVIEWING MEMBERS OF THE GROUP ON THEIR RETURN TO SAIGON, WE WOULD CERTAINLY CONSIDER SUBSEQUENTLY EACH CASE INDIVIDUALLY ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS. OTHERWISE, WE COULD BE ACCUSED OF CONDONING A CRIMINAL OFFENCE IN A NEIGHBOURING FOREIGN COUNTRY AND COMPOUNDING IT BY BREACHING
OUR OWN POLICY RULES.
33) 7. WE HAVE ALREADY REFERRED IN PARA 3 OF OUR TEL NO 647 TO THE
OBJECTIONS TO ENTRY OF THE GROUP TO MACAU OR TAIWAN, EVEN IF THEY WERE ACCEPTABLE THERE. IT MUST BE EMPHASIZED THAT THEIR GOAL WAS HONG KONG AND IT WOULD NOT MAKE SENSE FOR ANY OF THIS GROUP OF CHINESE TO WANT TO GO TO, SAY, AUSTRALIA OR SWEDEN. EVEN IF THEY DID, IT WOULD TAKE MONTHS BEFORE SUITABLE ARRANGEMENTS COULD BE MADE, DURING WHICH TIME WE WOULD BE OBLIGED TO KEEP THEM I
IN GAOL.
(THERE ARE ELDERLY PEOPLE AND YOUNG CHILDREN IN THE GROUP). IF WE RELEASED THEM, THEY WOULD GO TO GROUND IN HONG KONG, WHICH IS PRECISELY WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CASE OF LEUNG PAK KIN.
8. WHILE WE RESPECT THE NEED TO ACT IN A HUMANITARIAN WAY, OUR PRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS MUST BE THE MAINTENANCE OF CREDIBLE AND EFFECTIVE IMMIGRATION CONTROL, AND THE AVOIDANCE OF A PRECEDENT WHICH WOULD ENCOURAGE FURTHER ATTEMPTS BY LARGE NUMBERS OF ILLEGALS TO SEEK REFUGE IN HONG KONG. SUBJECT THEREFORE, TO SATISFACTORY ASSURANCES FROM SAIGON WE INTEND TO REPATRIATE AS SOON AS SUITABLE ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE. THIS WILL HAVE TO BE BY CHARTERED AIRCRAFT AT OUR EXPENSE. THE LONGER WE DELAY, THE MORE DIFFICULT THE SITUATION BECOMES.
ROBERTS
FILES
।
HKIOD
SEAD
MVD
LEGAL ADVISERS PS
REPEATED AS REQUESTED/
PS/LORD GORONWY ROBERTS PS/MR ENNALS
MR WILFORD
MR MALE
2 CONFIDENTIAL
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