CONFIDENTIAL
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6. We are keeping up our pressure on the Vietnamese to
live up to their undertaking to reduce departures, but as
yet there is no evidence that they are taking effective
action to that end. I am convinced that the only way of
lightening the heavy burden which Hong Kong already bears
is through agreement on a comprehensive scheme for the return of economic migrants to Vietnam. This means treating them no differently from the illegal immigrants trying to enter Hong Kong from China or indeed illegal immigrants the world over who are simply sent back to their country of origin. There has been a very general acceptance, both in Parliament and in the media, that the
Hong Kong Government have no feasible alternative. We
have made it clear that we would need assurances that
those returned would be treated humanely. But we have to
recognise that many boat people could physically resist being returned to Vietnam against their will. There is a
strong likelihood that we shall face criticism of an
emotive nature for example analogies, however far fetched, with the treatment of the Cossacks after World
War II - when the time comes to enforce the policy of involuntary repatriation in the full glare of publicity.
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7. The request of the Vietnamese for financial assistance to resettle their own people is a distasteful
one.
But I see no prospect of resolving this intractable problem in Hong Kong unless we go a little way to meet
them. Those who leave Vietnam usually sell all they
CONFIDENTIAL
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