GUNFIDENIZAL
DRAFT
From: Foreign and Home Secretaries
To: Prime Minister
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG: RESETTLEMENT
PA 129
1. The Private Secretary to the Foreign secretary wrote to Mr
Powell on 17 October about the outcome of the second round of
talks with the Vietnamese authorities on the return of Vietnamese
boat people in Hong Kong. We have taken the first important step
towards achieving our objective of the return of all boat people
who do not qualify to be treated as refugees. We must now focus
on those who do qualify. The beginning of the repatriation
exercise will reinforce the deterrent effect of our new policies
and reduce further the rate of illegal departures for Hong Kong.
The latest figures are encouraging and show very few arrivals
since mid-September a much greater reduction than the normal
seasonal decline at this time of year. There can be hope,
therefore, that the problem is becoming finite.
2. There are now some 25,000 boat people in Hong Kong. Of those
9,500 arrived after the introduction of screening on 16 June and
initial results indicate that few will qualify to be treated as
refugees: their future lies in Vietnam. The rest, some 15,500,
arrived before the introduction of screening and await
resettlement as refugees. It is the largest population of boat
people in the region. Screening will mean that very few indeed
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Private notes are available after approval.