TNAG-1534-FCO40-2098-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation-1986 — Page 49

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policy of HMG and responsibility for the decision is not

clear. Accusations have been made against Field Marshal

Alexander, the then Mr Harold MacMillan and others, and

the controversy continues.

3. Sudeten Germans. At the end of the War many of the

ethnic Germans living in Czechoslovakia were expelled,

the initial phase of the transfer being carried out under

harsh conditions which brought Allied protests. Not

strictly speaking a "repatriation", as these people had

not lived in Germany.

4. Mexico etc in the US. Estimates of the numbers of

illegal Mexican etc immigrants in the US vary. Over

130,000 Mexicans were deported in 1985. Nicaraguans and

Salvadoreans have been denied refugee status. Haitians

have been held in lengthy detentions, and Cubans in

closed camps as measures of deterrence. In 1981 the

Haitian and US governments signed a bilateral agreement

to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. The US Coast-

guard was enpowered to repatriate to Haiti all immigrants

intercepted on the high seas.

a

5. Kørens in Thailand. Some 18,000 Kørens had fled

the separatist guerilla war in Southeast Burma into

Thailand by late 1985. Some 4,000 were involuntarily

repatriated by Thailand in 1985. Plans for further

repatriation have been repeatedly postponed.

6.

Iran Jaya refugees in Papua New Guinea. Some 10,000

Printed in the UK for HMSO Dd 8422057 2/84 (28592)

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