TNAG-1795-FCO40-2555-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 154

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HONG KONG' THEY WOULD IN FACT TREAT ANYONE REPATRIATED HUMANELY. HOWEVER, THIS POLICY COULD NOT BE PROMULGATED.

7.

HE ALSO ASKED FOR OUR HELP OVER ACCELERATION OF THE ODP

PARTICULARLY IN PERSUADING THE US AND AUSTRALIA TO TAKE MORE PEOPLE.

VU KHOAN WELCOMED OUR OFFER TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS AND TAPES

DISCOURAGING PEOPLE FROM LEAVING VIETNAM. HE AGAIN DREW OUR ATTENTION

TO THOSE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES WHICH ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO LAEAVE

VIETNAM. HE HAD PERSONALLY LISTENED TO THESE BROADCASTS WHICH TOLD

PEOPLE HOW TO LEAVE FOR HONG KONG AND WHERE TO GET SUPPLIES OF FUEL

AND FOOD. WE WOULD KNOW WHO MADE THESE BROADCASTS AND HE ASKED FOR

OUR HELP IN DEALING WITH THEM.

8.

VO KHOAN SAID WE COULD NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF ALL THE PEOOPLE

WHO HAD ARRIVED IN HONG KNG SINCE 1975. WE SHOULD DEAL WITH THOSE

WHO HAD RECENTLY ARRIVED. BUT HE DID NOT WANT TO DISCOUNT THE

POSSIBILITY OF RESETTLEMENT FOR SOME OF THEM. THE VIETNAMESE SIDE

WERE PREPARED TO CONSIDER REPATRIATION OF THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE

RESETTLED BUT FOR LEGAL AND HUMANITARIAN REASONS REPATRIATION WOULD

HAVE TO BE VOLUNTARY. OVER THE YEARS THE CONCEPT OF REFUGEES HAD BEEN EXPANDED FROM THE 1951 CONVENTION TO THE OAU DECLARATION IN 1969,

WHICH INCLUDED AS REFUGEES THOSE WHO LEFT BECAUSE OF NATURAL

DISASTER OR SOCIAL DISORDER. THE INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION OF

HUMAN RIGHTS RECOGNISED THE RIGHT OF PEOPLE TO CHOOSE WHEE THEY

SETTLED AS DID THE 1966 CONVENTION ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS.

9. VU KHOAN PROPOSED THAT WE SHOULD PROVIDE HIM WITH A LIST OF

THOSE WHO WISHED TO APPLY VOLUNTARILY TO RETURN TO VIETNAM. IF WE GREED, THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT WERE WILLING TO SEND VIETNAMESE

OFFICIALS TO HONG KONG TO CONTACT THOSE WHO WISHED TO RETURN AND TO

ASK THEM WHERE THEY WOULD WISH TO GO AND WHAT WERE THEIR

CIRCUMSTANCES IN VIETNAM. ON THE BASIS OF THE AGREED LIST, VIETNAM

WOULD HAVE TO MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR THEIR RETURN. THERE WERE TWO

PROBLEMS HERE. FIRST THE HUMANITARIANC CONSISERATIONS. IF VITNAM WERE TO REPATRIATE THESE PEOPLE BUT NOT TO ACCOMMODATE THEM

IT WOULD BE INHUMANE. THEY HAD SOLD THEIR HOUSES AND WOULD NEED

BASIC LIVING CONDITIONS. THERE WERE ALSO ECONOMIC

CONIDERATIONS WHICH VU KHOAN FELT THAT HE COULD NOT HIDE FROM US.

HTHIS IS WHY VIETNAM NEEDED INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE. HE PROPOSED

THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONSIDER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO

VIETNAM.HTHEY HAD ALSO SOUGHT HELP FROM SOME INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS SUCH AS UNHCR. ON THESE CONDITIONS THE VIETNAMESE WOULD REPATRIATE REFUGEES AND WOULD RECEIVE THEM IN AN ORDERLY

FASHION.

10.

VU KHOAN ASKED OUR VIEWS ON THREE POINTS:

(A) WHETHER WE SHOULD HAVE A WRITTEN AGREEMENT AND, IF SO, WHAT FORM

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