Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
20
From The Minister of State
The Rt Hon The Lord Goronwy-Roberts
Near Jian,
14
HK Ko Madal 1978
RELIVED IN
* MARIA
No DT
In my letter of 5 January I confirmed that the question of legal representation for illegal immigrants would be raised with the Government of Hong Kong. I have now received their
comments.
The Hong Kong Government have confirmed that they take all possible precautions to prevent the case of any illegal immigrant going by default. Their concern is above all to act humanely and sympathetically. Each case is handled individually and strictly on its merit by Hong Kong Chinese immigration officers in the would-be immigrant's own language. Hong Kong's repatriation policy is widely known in Kwangtung Province and illegal immigrants generally expect to be sent back.
The Hong Kong Government feel that the practical problems of finding persons who would provide a service to illegal immigrants, and the likely delay which would arise, make it very difficult to adopt your suggestion. This is particularly so in view of the fact that, as I mentioned in my letter of 5 January, a Hong Kong Court has already ruled that a writ of habeus corpus may not be granted in such cases. In addition there is the danger of the publicity which might result, which could prove very harrowing to those involved and could also cause unnecessary offence to the Chinese authorities. This, as I am sure you will appreciate, we would wish to avoid.
I believe these objections are well-founded. In the meantime the discussion I had on the matter with you and Colonel Montgomery has been noted carefully in Hong Kong as well as here and I have no doubt that the precautions taken by the Hong Kong authorities, described in the second paragraph of this letter, will continue to be taken by them with the utmost care.
I am sending a copy of this letter to Colonel Montgomery.
Mr John Roper MP House of Commons London SW1A OAA
CC: Colonel Montgomery
Ruet
Your
Torony.
bcc:) The Hon L M Davies CMG OBE JP
Secretary for Security
Government Secretariat, Hong Kong
2) Hong Kong Government Office
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