TNAG-0847-FCO40-1057-Visits-of-Sir-Murray-MacLehose--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-th-1979 — Page 98

CONFIDENTIAL

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intelligence about suspicious vessels.

(b) By the British Government

We are currently pursuing two main objectives:

(i) to bring international pressure to bear on the

Vietnamese Government to take effective measures to

stop the outflow;

(ii) to drum up more resettlement places for the refugees

who have already left.

In pursuit of these objectives, the Prime Minister has

urged the Secretary-General of the United Nations to call

an early international conference. We have conducted a

major lobbying campaign to get other countries to support

the idea of a conference; use their influence with the

and take some refugees or more refugees as

Vietnamese;

the case may be.

IMMIGRATION INTO HONG KONG FROM CHINA

Hong Kong Government Policy

1. (i) Legal Immigrants: Chinese citizens with valid travel documents

are permitted to enter Hong Kong and, if they decline to return

to China, to remain in Hong Kong.

(ii) Illegal Immigrants: Those who leave China without the per-

mission of the Chinese authorities and are detained by the

security forces while trying to enter Hong Kong are returned to

China within 24 hours. Those who evade capture and go to

ground are eventually allowed to stay.

CONFIDENTIAL

/Background