TNAG-1792-FCO40-2552-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 114

CONFIDENTIAL

5.

An obvious objection to the proposed change is that,

until the Vietnamese can be induced to accept repatriation

(and there is no sign of this at the moment), those screened

out, who will have no access to resettlement opportunities,

will form a permanent prison population in Hong Kong. The

Governor of Hong Kong is aware of this risk.

This is,

however, in effect already the position. Most of the

10,000 "refugees" now in closed camps in Hong Kong are not

real refugees and have no hope of resettlement; the only

difference under the new policy would be that they would

be so defined. The gain expected is that the new screening

policy would have at least a deterrent effect, and that the

rate of arrivals would be reduced.

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6.

I expect the issue of boat people to dominate my visit

to Hong Kong from 29 to 31 May. I will have discussions

with the Governor and members of ExCo and LegCo about the

crisis and will have an opportunity to assess the problem

at first hand. It raises a number of difficult issues,

legal, political and practical, which will need to be very

carefully considered. However I am inclined to think that

the present policy is intolerable for Hong Kong and has to

change.

On my return I will need to consult you and our

colleagues urgently about whether we should authorise the

Hong Kong Government to introduce a new policy along the

lines I have described. We would need to consider the

diplomatic action necessary to give the policy the best

chance of succeeding. We shall also undoubtedly face strong

pressure for the United Kingdom to make a new resettlement

commitment, to take the lead in a campaign encouraging the

major resettlement countries to make a once and for all

effort to reduce Hong Kong's problem to manageable proportions.

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