TNAG-1903-FCO40-2705-Hong-Kong-cabinet-meetings-on-Vietnamese-refugees-1990 — Page 90

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

CONFIDENTIAL

"a) as its top priority, to establish a firm timetable for the balanced implementation of each component ie. departure, reception and status determination, repatriation and resettlement of the

CPA

...

-

b) to conduct its first assessment of progress achieved by October

1989;

c) to recommend, by that date, the early examination and adoption

(sic) of such additional measures as may be called for, bearing in mind paragraph 12 of the CPA."

(d) Attitude of the United States and the UNHCR

9. Throughout the summer we have made a major effort to persuade

the United States and the UNHCR to accept the logic of the screening

programme and to signal their acquiescence in, if not support for, a

comprehensive programme of mandatory repatriation. But we have met

with strong resistance, both within the American administration and

on the part of the High Commissioner for Refugees, M. Hocke. We

need the cooperation of the UNHCR, who are best placed to serve

channel for reintegration assistance and to take on the role of

monitoring all returnees in Vietnam. But they continue to take the

view that, at a time when the number of volunteers is increasing, it

would be premature to consider alternatives to the voluntary

programme.

as a

10.

In my discussions on 11 September with the US Secretary of

State, Mr Baker, I explained once more that we would soon need to

decide what to do with non-volunteers. Mr Baker repeated

the American argument that an early move to involuntary repatriation would undermine the CPA, set a bad precedent for Thailand and Malaysia, and lead the US Administration to disagree publicly with

But Mr Baker accepted that in order to make the voluntary programme work, the UNHCR, along with other organisations and

resettlement countries, should make greater efforts to persuade

those screened out as non-refugees that there is no alternative to

us.

VIMAAE4

CONFIDENTIAL

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