TNAG-1907-FCO40-2711-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-voluntary-and-mandatory-repat-1989 — Page 139

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CONFIDENTIAL

FROM:

RA Burns

30

PS/PUS

DATE:

川

Rn

Miss Marsden

Mr Magli's

Mr Stone

M12/10

Mr. Hasy 18/10

and

CC:

News Department

6 October 1989

PS

PS/Mr Maude

Mr Gilmore

Mr McLaren

Heads: Hong Kong Dept

SEAD

VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE

1. At his meeting this morning, the PUS noted the Secretary of State's anxiety about the press handling of our decision to proceed with mandatory repatriation of Vietnamese Boat People after the Steering Committee Meeting in Geneva in the middle of this month.

Mr Maude has separately asked for some papers to be ready on this subject for his return over the weekend. I attach a note prepared in News Department.

2.

Mandatory repatriation, however described, will be

controversial, but the degree of controversy will depend on whether there are reports or pictures of actual violence.

3. The Achilles heel in our presentation is the fact that we have implicitly accepted in writing the Vietnamese view that forcible

We shall come under great pressure

-

repatriation is inappropriate.

-

to reveal the terms of the agreement we have struck with the Vietnamese. I hope we can release many of the details. But we shall not be able to release the full text because we have accepted the Vietnamese wish for confidentiality, and because admission that

force should not be used would undermine the whole exercise. We shall be running the risk that if there is a big fuss that point in the agreement will come out, eg from a dissatisfied Hanoi.

CONFIDENTIAL