TNAG-1529-FCO40-2093-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 91

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currency, and the fact that ocean-going boats are in short supply which encourages coastal navigation from the North

of Vietnam to the South China Coast.

(b)

I don't think this was the formula used it cleared with us last noflart pse check

time. Confor

ре

Са

For as long as the international presumption remains that

all arrivals from Vietnam are refugees rather than illegal

immigrants, there is little the Hong Kong Government can

do to deter them from coming to Hong Kong other than to maintain the closed camp policy. On humanitarian grounds there can be no question of turning them away.

As I stated in this Council earlier this year on 8 January, involuntary repatriation of arrivals who are not genuine refugees to Vietnam is a viable option, as far as the Hong Kong Government is concerned, provided the Government of Vietnam would accept them and provided we

could be satisfied that they would not be treated inhumanely on their return. We are still pursuing this possibility with HMG.