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When the policy of repatriating illegal immigrants was introduced, it was done in the knowledge that those who were returned were not harshly treated. This remains
the case today. The Chinese authorities regard these people, nearly all of them young, as having committed a civil misdemeanour rather than a criminal offence, and there is no evidence that anybody who has been repatriated has faced physical danger.
I am also satisfied that the Hong Kong Government apply this policy in the most humane way possible. The detained immigrants are well fed and given new clothes if necessary. A doctor calls at the detention centre each day. Every detainee is closely interviewed and if there are exceptional humanitarian reasons repatriation is not carried out. The whole process is completed quickly and sympathetically in the great majority of cases within a maximum of 48 hours.
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Finally, I would like to emphasize that none of those who have been repatriated have claimed to be refugees in the sense that they were fleeting from persecution in their own country. They were simply attracted by the bright lights and higher material standard of living in Hong Kong.
I am returning Captain Harding's letter.
Mr Walter Padley MP House of Commons LONDON SW1A OAA
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