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the dilemma of needing, on the one hand, to demonstrate that it respected humanitarian values and did not discriminate against genuine refugees; whilst, on the other hand, needing to send a sufficiently firm signal to Vietnam so as to deter the flow of boat people.
8.
The Hong Kong Government are starkly aware of these risks and difficulties. But they are also convinced that present policies are no longer tenable. Neither we nor they can identify any more satisfactory alternative approach. It would seem right that they should be permitted to pursue their exploration of all the implications of ceasing to grant first asylum, on the clear understanding that:
(i) we see screening on arrival as a necessary component of
this approach;
(ii)
Ministers would wish to be consulted further, no doubt collectively, before any change of policy was implemented.
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