TNAG-1795-FCO40-2555-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 201

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The delegation will ask the Vietnamese authorities

to do more to control the flow of departures and will try to agree practical arrangements for the return

Vietnam

of all those boat people in Hong Kong who have been

Some tough negotiations screened out as non-refugees.

lie ahead and we do not expect any early breakthrough. But it is nonetheless encouraging that talks have at

least begun.

On the international front, we are in close touch

We have with UNHCR about all aspects of the problem. recently also been active within the European Political Co-operation framework: Geoffrey Howe has raised the matter with his EC Ministerial colleagues and we have taken the lead in organising a joint EC demarche in Hanbi at Ambassadorial level, calling on the Vietnamese authorities to take urgent steps to resolve the problem.

We are also in regular contact with the other main

resealement

maintenance countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada to enlist their support and

assistance.

The Hong Kong authorities, for their part, are in close touch with the ASEAN countries and in particular

with the other countries of first asylum.

A

representative of the Hong Kong Government attended a meeting in Bangkok on 18-19 July convened by UNHCR, to exchange views in the light of the willingness of the Vietnamese authorities to hold talks with the UNHCR and the first asylum countries. They will continue to

co-ordinate their positions closely.

Some of the ASEAN countries have called for an