TNAG-0496-FCO40-561-Deportation-of-foreign-nationals-from-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 47

CONFIDENTIAL

once the authorities were satisfied that individual immigrants had

no claim to stay in Hong Kong, they should be sent back as quickly as possible. Firm action would diminish the risk of more attempts

to enter Hong Kong and therefore lessen the recurring problem.

3.

Sir Murray MacLehose said that Lord Goronwy-Roberts's

policy of individual investigation, of granting exceptions to genuine political refugees, of returning the remainder in as humane a way as possible, and of seeking assurances from the Saigon Government, was entirely practicable. This was in fact what

Hong Kong did already. The only problem was that if it was publicly announced that genuine refugees would not be sent back, then everyone would claim refugee status.

4.

Lord Goronwy-Roberts agreed that returns would be

(a)

entirely defensible if he could say in Parliament after the event:

that in the light of individual interrogation of members of the group, and of assurances given by the Saigon Government, H M Government were satisfied

5.

that there were no special circumstances which could have justified refusal to return;

(b) that members of the group had established no claim

to residence in Hong Kong and there were no special

medical or humanitarian considerations;

(c)

(a)

that previous cases had shown that the assurances of the South Vietnamese Government were reliable; and

that the group had therefore been returned, with the exception (where appropriate) of those to whom such special considerations applied.

Lord Goronwy-Roberts said that, given the Governor's undertaking that the actions of the Hong Kong Government would allow him to speak on these lines, he was content.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA

6.

Lord Goronwy-Roberts said that he would like to detach this question from that of illegal immigrants from third countries. Very probably organisations like Amnesty International, which had a political bias, would be less concerned about the return of illegal immigrants to China than to a country like Vietnam.

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17.