TNAG-1795-FCO40-2555-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 131

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MDLIAN 7773

(C) REPATRIATION WAS ONE MEANS OF DETERRING ILLEGAL DEPARTURES.

(D) REPATRIATION SHOULD BE IN PHASES.

(E) THERE SHOULD BE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL I COMMUNITY INCLUDING HMG, ALTHOUGH HE NOTED THAT THERE COULD BE NO COMMITMENT AT THIS STAGE.

(F) I WOULD PROVIDE LISTS OF VIETNAMESE II'S TO BE REPATRIATED.

(G) REPATRIATION BY AIR AND SEA WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE.

THE POINTS ON WHICH WE HAD NOT AGREED WERE:

I THE DEFINITION OF ECONOMIC MIGRANTS AND OTHER IMMIGRANTS AND HOW

TO DETERMINE WHO SHOULD BE REPATRIATED, WHETHER ON A VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY BASIS.

II. WHETHER VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE

SCREENING PROCESS IN HK.

III. HOW FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SHOULD BE PURSUED.

·

9 I COMMENTED ON KHOAN'S POINTS. I SUGGESTED AN ADDITIONAL AGREED

POINT (SEMI COLON) THE NEED FOR HUMANE TREATMENT OF RETURNEES.

10. ON THE POINTS OF DISAGREEMENT, I SAID THAT DECISIONS ON THE STATUS OF REFUGEES IN HK WERE A MATTER FOR OUR IMMIGRATION AUTHOR-

ITIES, IN ACCORDANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL PRACTIVE. I DID NOT RULE OUT COMPLETELY THE POSSIBILITY OF VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS COMING TO HK

AT SOME STAGE TO OBSERVE THE SCREENING PROCESS. BUT WE WOULD FIRST

WISH TO SEE THE BASIS OF AN ACCEPTABLE PACKAGE FOR REPATRIATION.

I MADE IT CLEAR THAT OUR OFFER TO SEND HK OFFICIALS TO VIETNAM WAS

PURELY TO BE HELPFUL.

11. IT WAS THEN AGREED THAT THERE SHOULD BE A JOINT PRESS STATE-

MENT ON THE CURRENT ROUND. DURING THE BREAK FOR LUNCH WE GAVE THE

VIETNAMESE SIDE A DRAFT FOR THIS. WE ALSO PROVIDED THE PROMISED

STATISTICS AND OTHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

12. DURING THE AFTERNOON WE DISCUSSED OUR DRAFT PRESS STATEMENT.

I TRIED TO PERSUADE THE VIETNAMESE SIDE TO INCLUDE REFERENCE TO

AGREEMENT ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT ECONOMIC MIGRANTS WOULD BE TREATED

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CONFIDENTIAL