TNAG-0498-FCO40-563-Deportation-of-foreign-nationals-from-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 79

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M F Chapman Esq

South-East Asian Department Foreign & Commonwealth Office London SW1

BRITISH EMBASSY

SAIGON

339)

13 September 197

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I leave repl!!!

Dear Mari-

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295

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ILLEGAL EMIGRANTS

1.

PA

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20/1.

The Anlassador is mak

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of all this

As there is a bag just closing,I am replying immediately to one or two specific points in your letter to me of 10 September. I should like to reflect a little further on the implications and tactics of trying to arrange a visit.

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2. Let me say first, in case this becomes a matter between the Office and Amnesty, that the reference to a comment by the British Ambassador in Amnesty's letter of 28 August is totally unintelligible to me. In fact the sentence as a whole seem without logic and I cannot imagine how Martin Ennals finds a connection between corruption in high places and alleged asgmail on the returned emigrants. At any rate no such comment was in by me. The only possible connection I can see is my expian Li to Sanguinetti of why prisoners had been taken to Con Son island. namely that, because of the widespread corruption in South Vietnam, this was a place where prisoners could be interviewel without danger of messages being passed in to them, eg threat niu their lives, by the outside organisers of the operation.

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3. My second point is that a copy of the draft reply was not enclosed with your letter. I shall hope for it in final form.

4. The third point is the question of reporting rumours con cerning the treatment of prisoners. I find this rather puss As far as we are aware, there are no such rumours in Balgo ever have been and I myself was not aware of their alle existence until Sanguinetti mentioned them. I find it is that none of the enclosures in Amnesty's letter to Lord Roberts of 7 August (attempting to substantiate their does in fact speak of ill-treatment, though this is implici you assume that death occurred as a result of injury weted guards at Con Son island. I am pretty sure that our continuo i contacts with the foreign press here on this particular subject would have soon turned up these rumours if there had been any- thing substantial to them.

5. This said, I will reflect, as I said, over the weekend g

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