TNAG-0905-FCO40-1115-Immigration-from-China-to-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 4

BY BAG

CR 20/2091/62

K Sullivan Esq PEKING

1

CONFIDENTIAL

fu ISHA

3

29/üü

Ms Grulia on 819.7

12th July, 1979

HKK341

Hill

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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA VIA MACAU

Because of the increasing number of illegal immigrants to Macau who subsequently travel illegally to Hong Kong, we have recently started to repatriate any such people caught in Hong Kong directly to China at Man Kam To rather than sending them back to Macau. We have conflicting reports of the thoroughness of Macau's own policy on repatriation and we believe that the risk of being repatriated direct to China may help to discourage the illegal traffic from Macau,

2.

We have not cleared these new arrangements with the Chinese since ve believe it is fully within the spirit of the 1974 agreement on repatriation that those found to have left China illegally will be accepted back irrespective of the way in which they reach Hong Kong. The first such repatriations were made without any difficulties on 7 July. You will wish to note that from that day regular statistics which we send you for repatriation will include a small number of those who have claimed that they came via Macau. There vere 19 such cases in our latest immigration sitrep for the period 3 - 9 July (our telno 964 to FCO). We shall keep a separate record of the figures here, but we believe it would be confusing to report them separately in the weekly statistics sent to you.

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W Quantrill HKD RE Allen FED FCO

(I C orr)

CONFIDENTIAL