TNAG-1859-FCO40-2634-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 78

13

have to face

an

risk our

prospects

international

outcry which would put at

for resettling the 13,000 refugees now

in Hong Kong, and which would also affect international

attitudes towards Hong Kong in other areas, such as trade,

where we have important interests.

24.

is the

I remain convinced that the policy we have adopted

right one, and that it will eventually bear fruit.

At the steering committee meeting in Geneva next week, we

will be making very strongly the point that screening and

repatriation are inseparable. It is only by introducing a

scheme for orderly return that we will solve the problem of

disorderly arrivals. The thousands that are being screened

out as non-refugees must go back to their homes in Vietnam.

It is only by

by finding a way to return non-refugees home

can do anything for those who are genuine

that we

refugees.

arrangements

meantime, I T

patience,

human

We

are determined to put in place satisfactory

for both resettlement and repatriation. In the

1

DYIMMALBY NA MAWA

and to remember that the Vietnamese are fellow

beings. Many Hong Kong families, after all, know what

it is like to uproot themselves from their homes and seek a

better future elsewhere.

/(e) The

27'd EE

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