TNAG-1906-FCO40-2710-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-voluntary-and-mandatory-repat-1989 — Page 42

TEXABB

乱

CONFIDENTIAL

Miss Marsden, Had) заболет

І сле Though not

Hocke

Mr Haswell

Roy/1x

some merit in this iden

to the an ultimatum. Rather, we

the kuie available to

extent of junij

should use

maxranium pressure on

ho encrrange

UNHCR

wowenkeers by givnig

VBI's the full counselling commit

2.

Suice

Minishs

we have to to

mire generally in thei

enbjecheay weal

week

FROM : C C D Haswell

Hong Kong Department

DATE: 31 August 1989

Mr Godson, SEAD

CC

Mr Whitehead, News Dept

Mr Brenton, UND

1154

Minut Melow

it beil un bo submit

/hvi

Miss Marsden

separately.

Mr Maláren

PS/Mr-Maude

Private Secretary

炎

VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE

REPATRIATION

HKB 243 19

236

1. Mr Maude's minute to the Secretary of State would seem to mark

the demise of the 'Grey Area'. It has been a useful fiction which opened the opportunity for dialogue both with the Vietnamese and

with the Americans. There might still be some life in it for the

purpose of persuading UNHCR to accept a monitoring role over people

who have not signed the UNHCR volunteer form. But for the practical purpose of getting a group of non-volunteer Vietnamese back to Vietnam, I'm not sure how many of us ever really believed it

existed. Which leaves us with two options: voluntary repatriation

or forcible repatriation.

2. One mindset of ours which has upset the Americans and UNHCR has

been our insistence that the voluntary programme can never solve the

problem. They believe that we never had any intention of giving the

voluntary programme a chance. It remains true that the numbers

likely to volunteer to return will not initially be large. But the

Americans did make a good point during the Washington talks when

they said that there could be limitations on the rate at which

Vietnam will be able to reabsorb people; and we need to bear in mind

also that we cannot send people back any faster than we screen them,

which under present plans will be a maximum rate of 400 per week.

We do need to move tens of thousands of people. But in practical

CONFIDENTIAL