TNAG-0495-FCO40-560-Deportation-of-foreign-nationals-from-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 115

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CONFIDENTIAL

RICEVED IN

REGISTRY No.51

23 JUN1974

Mr Maye

PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION INTO HONG KONG

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PA

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2516

26 (28

PROBLEM

1.

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A number of recent and pending cases call for a review of Hong Kong's policy towards illegal immigrants from countries other than China. (Illegal immigration from China is a separate issue which has been covered in other submissions).

BACKGROUND

2. Illegal immigration into Hong Kong from third countries has only been a trickle compared with the large number entering from China. But there is a potential problem, particularly of draft dodgers from South Vietnam. This has been highlighted by the single shipload of 119 Chinese from Vietnam, who tried to enter Hong Kong illegally on 2 June. (Hong Kong telegrams 603 and 621 and Saigon telegram 15 to Hong Kong).

3. During 1972/73 Hong Kong returned 380 illegal immigrants to Macao (of whom at least 23 then slipped back again into Hong Kong), 152 to Taiwan, and 11 to South Vietnam. Only 11 (including 5 from South Vietnam, who were all sent to Taiwan) were sent on to other third countries rather than being returned to their country of origin. In each of these cases there were clear compassionate or humanitarian reasons.

4. Leaving aside the question of illegal immigration from China Hong Kong have in the past taken a stricter line than we do in Britain on the return of illegal immigrants to their countries of origin. British policy, in deportation as

CONFIDENTIAL

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