TNAG-0496-FCO40-561-Deportation-of-foreign-nationals-from-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 123

ON SEAD

FILE

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London S.W.1

(121)

16 July 1974

LAOT

120

From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

1

NE

REF.

Near Neil,

Thank you for your letter of 3 July to Jim Callaghan about the repatriation of the party of South Vietnamese of Chinese origin recently detained in Hong Kong.

Except for one man who was born in Hong Kong, all the 119 were returned to South Vietnam on 17 June following specific assurances to us from the South Vietnamese Government that nothing serious would happen to members of the group who were victims of the syndicate which had smuggled them out of South Vietnam.

When the Foreign Minister of South Vietnam called at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during his recent visit to Britain, Roy Hattersley took the opportunity to remind him of the assurances that had been given. Mr. Bac confirmed that cases of violation of the immigration/emigration laws would be tried in open court and would not lead to harsh punishment. He added that women and draft-dodgers in particular would be lightly treated.

Following the repatriation it became known that one of the persons affected was under sentence of death. (He had concealed this fact in Hong Kong and had given a false identity.) The sentence has now been commuted by the South Vietnamese.

I hope these assurances will help to put your mind at rest. I am returning the copies of BBC Monitoring Service reports which you sent with your letter.

Yours imurely,