6195 D073528 400M 2/74 Cr.P.C. 839/3
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential,
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT LETTER
To:-
The Rt Hon Roy Jenkins, MP Secretary of State for the
Home Department
Type 1 +
FROM
Secretary of State
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
1. With your letter of 21 October you sent me a
letter from your constituent, Mr R Bannister,
about the group of illegal immigrants to Hong Kong
returned to Saigon in June. We fully share the
concern of Mr Bannister and of Amnesty Internatioal
for these people, but we cannot disregard the
very difficult human problem posed by illegal
immigration into Hong Kong, both from China and
from other countries in the area.
2. Most of the members of the group were men of
conscription age who said they were seeking to
avoid the draft. The group were exploited for
personal gain by the organisers of an illegal
smuggling operation. The decision to return the
remaining 118 to their country of origin was
taken by the Hong Kong Government, although there
had naturally been prior consultation with
Her Majesty's Government.
3. It was because of the Government's concern for
the human rights of these illegal immigrants that,
before they were returned, we sought from the
Vietnamese Government, and received, assurances
/that
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