TNAG-0498-FCO40-563-Deportation-of-foreign-nationals-from-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 70

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to find grounds for removing some of them, but we are likely to be handicapped by the fact that removal can only be effected if the countries concerned are willing to take back their own nationals. In the case of the 118, the Government of the Republic of Vietnam were more than anxious to have the group back because of the importance they attached to suppressing this obnoxious smuggling trade. On the other hand, over the past four years or so the South Vietnamese Consulate-General have generally found some difficulty in persuading their authorities in South Vietnam to grant re-entry facilities for those whom we have wanted to repatriate and whose names we have handed over.

There

4.

So much for the visible part of the iceberg. are, however, numbers of illegal immigrants from South-East Asia who are in Hong Kong and who have not so far come to official notice. Many of these came from South Vietnam. ΤΟ prevent ourselves from being swamped it is imperative that we continue to deter illegal entry by returning illegal immigrants caught to their countries of origin.

5.

We are convinced therefore that our broad policy must remain that of returning every illegal immigrant to his country of origin except where there are overriding objections on compassionate or humanitarian grounds, or where he (or she) is a refugee from racial, political or religious persecution. The safeguard, of course, is that we consult you on especially difficult cases, e.g. the individual cases of LY Han (your telegram No.-281 of 14 March), LEUNG Pak-kin (our telegram No. 32 of 11 January) and KHOU San (our telegram No. 313 of 13 March)

6.

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Decisions are now required on thirteen outstanding cases in which removal seems to be justified. Eight would be returned to the Khmer Republic and five to South Vietnam. difficulty is that some of the current cases are people from the Khmer Republic who entered Hong Kong as far back as 1970 and it is impossible for us to judge whether they will suffer any "unusual penalty" on their return. We would welcome Phnom Penh's comment on these kinds of cases.

7.

In view of the relatively large numbers of known and suspected illegal immigrants now in Hong Kong, I hope you will agree that it would be impractical to consult you and the posts concerned in every single case, but if you were happy to leave us to consult you only on the cases most likely to give rise to political difficulty, we could deal with the remainder along general policy guide-lines agreed with you. For example,

in every case there would be individual examination to establish that each man was physically fit and that there were no special grounds for granting asylum, and humane means of repatriation were available.

8.

We have not repatriated anyone to Vietnam in the last three months since we feel that we must see how the South Vietnamese Government honour the assurances they gave in the

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