TNAG-1090-FCO40-1340-Illegal-immigration-from-China-to-Hong-Kong-of-refugees-orig-1981 — Page 26

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 634 CF 26 JUNE

لين مما

INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG GOVT OFFICE LONDON, PEKING, UKMIS GENEVA,

LISBON.

35

PEKING TELNO 445 TO YOU; VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM CHINA.

THE ENCOURAGING REPORT IN REFTEL HAS BEEN BORNE OUT BY SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS. WE WERE GIVEN SHORT NOTICE OF A MEETING TODAY IN SHENZHEN AT WHICH CHINESE OFFICIALS PROVIDED LISTS OF SOME 2,400 PEOPLE TO BE RECEIVED BACK IN THE LATTER HALF OF JULY.

1,700 ARRIVED IN 1979-80, THE REST BEING MORE RECENT ARRIVALS. DETAILED ARRANGEMENTS WILL BE MADE ONCE WE HAVE CHECKED THE

NAMEL ISTS.

2. IN RESPONSE TO PRESS QUERIES WE WILL TAKE THE LINE THAT WE HAVE HAD A HELPFUL MEETING WITH THE CHINESE AND THAT ARRANGEMENTS

ARE BEING MADE FOR THE RETURN OF OVER 2200 PEOPLE OVER THE NEXT

MONTH.

3. SINCE EARLY THIS WEEK THERE HAS BEEN A MARKED REDUCTION IN

ARRIVALS IN MACAU. THE CHINESE SAID THEY WERE AWARE OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROBLEM THERE. ALTHOUGH THEY CLAIMED THE MACAU CASES WERE ''MORE DIFFICULT, THEY MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE SAME PRINCIPLES WOULD APPLY AS FOR HONG KONG. WE HAVE INFORMED THE PORTUGUESE CONSUL-GENERAL HERE, WARNING HIM THAT IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT RETURN ARRANGEMENTS WILL ONLY BE POSSIBLE ONCE MACAU HAS

PROVIDED DETAILED NAMELISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS.

4. THE CHINESE INDICATED THAT IN SOME CASES FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS

WILL BE MADE AFTER RETURN SINCE THEIR INVESTIGATIONS BASED ON OUR REPORTS HAVE NOT YET ESTABLISHED THE PRECISE FARM (OUT OF SOME

220 IN 4 PROVINCES) WHERE SOME REFUGEES WERE SETTLED. WE HOPE THIS

MEANS THAT FUTURE RETURNS MAY BE QUICKER THAN IN THE PAST.

5. WE ARE CERTAIN THAT REPRESENTATIONS IN PEKING HELPED GREATLY

AND ARE MOST GRATEFUL TO THE EMBASSY.

CATER

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