TNAG-1903-FCO40-2705-Hong-Kong-cabinet-meetings-on-Vietnamese-refugees-1990 — Page 62

Point 3

сохтам ноост колост

HONG

EXTRACT FROM: "THE FIVE POINT SOLUTION'

8 JUNE 1989

Repatriation: The Only Choice

Western nations must reconcile themselves to the thought of repatriating people to Vietnam. This is not easy for countries such as Britain and the United States, so fond of anti-Communist rhetoric.

Washington finds it particularly difficult to swallow the idea of repatriating people to a country and a government which it fought so bitterly and so unsuccessfully over many years. Yet Washington and the other Western nations have no choice. If they will not provide places of settlement for the boat people, they cannot object to repatriation of those screened out as illegal immigrants.

Point 4

Hong Kong: Keep Shouting!

Hong Kong should put maximum pressure on London to implement these steps urgently, instead of linking them to other political considerations. The longer Britain drags its feet, the more people will pile up in Hong Kong's detention centres and the more difficult it will become to repatriate them.

Even now, the logistical problems involved in repatriating up to 18,000 people are daunting.

Point 5

Fair and Speedy Screening

A speedy and fair screening and appeals procedure must be introduced and we welcome the measures being taken to speed up the process.

But people who have attended screening sessions say the boat people are not given a fair opportunity to tell their stories. Some witnesses feel the system is weighted against screening people in.

So far 158 out of 1,598 boat people have been screened in, but almost all of these were on grounds of family reunion. Only four families totalling 18 people have been able to convince immigration officers that they are refugees. 18 out of 1,598 a mere 1.1%

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Yet screening is important. A person's destiny depends on the decision. There are still people fleeing from Vietnam who are entitled to refugee status and protection, and Hong Kong has an international responsibility to find those people and give them the protection to which they are entitled.

To ensure that the doubts concerning the fairness of the system are examined it is essential that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees closely monitors the system and speaks out if necessary.

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