TNAG-1753-FCO40-2473-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-debates-1988 — Page 10

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Government, taken with our full support,

The

full support, that from 16 June all

arrivals would be screened, on the basis of UNHCR criteria.

intention is to distinguish genuine refugees from those whose

motives for leaving Vietnam are purely economic.

20. Hong Kong will continue to preserve access to resettlement for genuine refugees. But the great majority of arrivals who are determined to be economic migrants will be detained pending their BAN eventual repatriation to Vietnam, as soon as satisfactory

arrangements for their return have been negotiated.

M76

CLIFT

VIEWA

21. In our bilateral contacts with the Vietnamese Government we

are insisting on early resolution of this problem. I took the

opportunity to make this point forcefully when I met the Vietnamese

Foreign Minister in New York on 7 June. And in our contacts with

UNHCR and the major countries concerned we are urging them to do all they can to put pressure on the Vietnamese authorities to take

their own citizens back. In the meantime we are monitoring the effects of the new policy with great care.

22. Finally I should mention another source of concern in Hong

Kong. That is emigration, particularly amongst the professional and

middle classes. In the course of my recent visit to Hong Kong I was

able to gauge the extent of the problem for myself. There can be no

doubt that it is real, and must be faced up to squarely. For this

reason I welcome the recent decision by the Hong Kong Government to

establish a special task force on emigration which is already at

work.

Chi

23. Anxiety about the future is no doubt one factor influencing

people's decisions. But it is by no means the only one. There has

for example been a marked increase in opportunities for emigration

to certain countries. Many Hong Kong people, having acquired the

nationality of their adopted country, return to Hong Kong to live

and work. It is of course absolutely essential that people in Hong Kong should be free to come and go. That is a fundamental right

which must be preserved. There may however be practical measures

that can be taken to counter the effects of emigration from Hong

Kong. And above all the efforts of hhe British and Hong Kong

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