TNAG-1795-FCO40-2555-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 176

CONFIDENTIAL

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- 3 AUG 1988

CONFIDENTIAL

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INFO PRIORIY HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, MANILA, JAKARTA

INFO PRIORITY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, WASHINGTON, CANBERRA, OTTAWA INFO PRIORITY TOKYO, PEKING, UKMIS GENEVA, KUALA LUMPUR

FROM CLIFT

VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE: TALKS WITH VIETNAMESE:

FIRST DAY SUMMARY

1. WE HAD ONE A HALF HOURS OF PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS ON THE AFTERNOON OF 3 AUGUST WITH VIETNAMESE TEAM LED BY ASSISTANT FOREIGN MINISTER VU KHOAN.

2. I SET OUT OUR POSITION AS AGREED, STRESSING NEED FOR EARLY ACTION TO STOP FLOW OF BOAT PEOPLE AND TO START REPATRIATION

OF THOSE SCREENED OUT.

3. KHOAN MADE COUNTER STATEMENT, DWELLING ON VIETNAMESE VIEW OF CAUSES OF OUTFLOW. HE EXPRESSED READINESS TO DISCUSS REPATRIATION AS PART OF A PACKAGE, BASED ON HUMANITARIAN'' PRINCIPLES AND THEREFORE ON VOLUNTARY BASIS, AND INCLUDING THE POSSIBILITY OF VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS GOING TO HONG KONG TO HELP CHOOSE THOSE FOR RETURN AND RESETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE BY HMG, UNHCR AND OTHERS.

4. I UNDERTOOK TO REPLY IN DETAIL TO KHOAN'S STATEMENT TOMORROW, BUT STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF ANY ARRANGEMENT RESPECTING THE PRINCIPLE THAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD GO BACK TO THEIR COUNTRY

OF ORIGIN.

5. WITH THE PRESS WE ARE ONLY SAYING THAT THE TALKS HAVE STARTED WELL IN A GOOD ATMOSPHERE, MAKING NO (NO) COMMENT IN SUBSTANCE. VIETNAMESE SAY THEY WILL DO THE SAME.

6. FULL RECORD OF THIS SESSION FOLLOWS ON 4 AUGUST.

PARTRIDGE

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