TNAG-0908-FCO40-1118-Legislation-for-immigration-into-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 12

CONFIDENTIAL

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布政司署

香港下亞畢道

*** OUR REF.: CR 42/2091/70 t

41

來函檔號 YOUR REF.:

RJT McLaren Esq

Hong Kong & General Department

FCO

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

PA

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

5 August 1979

My Webs A Williamson

82/8

Dear Robin,

NEW LEGISLATION ON IMMIGRATION AND MACAU

The Immigration (Amendment) (No 3) Ordinance 1979 came into effect on 7 August. On the same day an Order-in-Council (provided for under paragraph 37B of the new Ordinance) came into effect declaring former residents of Vietnam and Macau to be

'unauthorized entrants'.

2.

David Wilson had already explained the imminent legislation to the Portugese Consul-General and asked him to inform the Governor of Macau. On the day after the Ordinance came into effect the Consul-General called on me to say, more in sorrow than anger, that the Governor of Macau was disappointed at the way in which the Order-in-Council bracketted together Vietnam and Macau. I reminded him that this legislation was only intended to provide more severe penalties against racketeering in refugees from Vietnam and illegal immigrants from Macau. The new penalties were applicable to those who helped organize unauthorized entry into Hong Kong and in many cases these would be people resident in Hong Kong. I assured him that there was no intention to interfere in any way with the normal legal movement of people between Hong Kong and Macau. The Consul-General undertook to report my comments to the Governor of Macau.

3.

In retrospect it might have been better to issue separate Orders-in-Council covering Vietnam and Macau. However, all the local publicity here has concerned the need to have wider powers to combat racketeering in refugees and greater publicity on our problems with Macau might have occurred if the two problems had been treated separately. Given the present moratorium by the Vietnamese Government on the refugee outflow it is fairly likely that the new legislation will first be applied in the case of illegal immigrants from Macau. We have had recent reports that there are up to 50,000 illegal immigrants from China in Macau

/waiting

CONFIDENTIAL