TNAG-1792-FCO40-2552-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 22

great efficiency: but camps and reception facilities are

under extreme pressure. Executive and Legislative

Councillors were unanimous in arguing for a fresh policy.

They were undoubtedly reflecting strong public concern.

3. The Governor and his officials are equally firm in

their view that the new policy has to be introduced.

The most serious of They are fully aware of the risks.

these is that a new policy would not deter further

arrivals and that there would be a build-up of Vietnamese

detainees with no prospect but eventual return to

Vietnam. But this would not be fundamentally different

The

The

in practice from the effect of the present policy.

aim of the new policy would be to achieve maximum

deterrence, while putting in place internationally

acceptable arrangements for genuine refugees.

introduction of the new policy would have to be widely

publicised (including within Vietnam, for example through

BBC broadcasts) and accompanied by renewed pressure on

Vietnam to deter illegal departures and accept back those

who leave.

We

4. I have considered carefully the international legal

and political implications of the proposed policy.

believe it would be defensible in legal terms. It is

nonetheless possible that critics might question its

compatability with our obligations under the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

We

would not have a watertight answer, any more than we have

now over the present policy of closed camps: but our