TNAG-1527-FCO40-2091-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 83

JAABB

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

Telephone 01-

233 4439

K J Woodhouse Esq

Security Branch

наи 24313

Government Secretariat

HONG KONG

Your reference SRD 404/1/C

Our reference

HKK 243/3

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

Date

1 1 APR 1986

10 April 1986

DESK OFFICEA INDEX

PA

72

Dear Ken.

EX-CHINA CASES AND VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE CASES

1.

Skyar

this

Thank you for your letter of

of 6 March, which provided us with most helpful summary both of recent developments on

a issue and of the "way ahead" as you see it.

2.

I have shown your letter to Stephen Nash in our South East Asian Department, since one of our concerns must of course be the risk that the flow of voluntary departure cases from Hong Kong to neighbouring places of first asylum will provoke difficulties with the other governments concerned. With this in mind, I am copying your letter and this reply to Nick Thorne, since the Philippines seem to be receiving the lion's share of your departures at present.

3. stage:

(a)

(b)

I have only two (limited) observations to offer at this

more

While taking your point in the final paragraph of page 2 of

letter, your

I fear that it will

be inevitably difficult to repatriate "ex-China cases"

cases" involuntarily to China from the Philippines (involving an air or sea trip) than it is across Hong Kong's land border.

Of course, the old argument about

salutary cases to discourage further arrivals would I suppose equally apply

two

few a

...

Presumably many of these voluntarily departing boats end up in the shipping lanes around Hong Kong, and the occupants are then rescued at sea. They would then be disembarked at the "first port of call", a fact which in its turn raises

issues: firstly, unless separate

UNHCR are able to notify you of these subsequent disembarkations, these cases would appear to have vanished without trace, with all the grim implications that thereby arise;

arise; and secondly, Stephen has pointed out, it is highly likely that (in the widespread absence of screening procedures elsewhere) ex-China cases are

thereafter being resettled in third

as