Mr Murray
PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts
PIENTIAL HKK 34,
CONFIDENTIAL
HONG KONG: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION NO
1.
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The British United Nations Association have forwarded to the
Secretary of State a resolution, passed by their Executive Committee on 14 January, deploring the repatriation to China of illegal immigrants and calling on the British Government to extend to Hong Kong and other dependent territories where it does not already apply, the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. An interim reply was sent to the association on 3 February.
2.
The present policy of repatriation stems from an agreement reached in 1974 between the Hong Kong Government and the authorities of Kwanttung Province. The agreement was necessary because the influx of legal immigrants, some 56,000 in 1973, was placing an impossible burden on Hong Kong resources.
3. It is estimated that only some 20% of illegal immigrants are caught and not all of these are returned. Each individual is
interviewed and, if there are strong humanitarian reasons, illegal immigrants are permitted to stay. There are strong arguments against spelling out the criteria used in such cases and also against revealing the numbers involved. To do so could enable would-be immigrants to produce more plausible cover stories; could lead China to doubt Hong Kong sincerity in applying the agreement; this in turn could restrict Hong Kong's ability to make exceptions in future cases.
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4. There is no evidence to suggest that any of those attempting to enter Hong Kong illegally fall within the UN definition and there is no recorded case of a request for political asylum. In addition, such information as is available, including confidential discussions with the Chinese authorities, indicates that those who are repatriated are treated as having committed a civil
CONFIDENTIAL
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