TNAG-1907-FCO40-2711-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-voluntary-and-mandatory-repat-1989 — Page 141

MANDATORY REPATRIATION OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE: PRESS HANDLING

1.

Since the screening policy was introduced in June 1988, our message to the media has concentrated on two principal points:

2.

the vast majority of the boat people are leaving Vietnam to seek a better life: they are economic migrants not refugees.

- once it has been determined that they are not genuine refugees, and that no other country is prepared to accept them, they must go back. And by sending them back we are acting entirely in accordance with international law.

We have made some headway over the last year. There is a

greater realisation among the UK media of the dilemma we face and

that the position in Hong Kong has become intolerable.

The Hong Kong media will applaud a decision to enforce repatriation. But the understanding in the UK is fragile. Comparisons are made with the

exodus of East Germans and some, like Bernard Levin and The

Guardian, will be extremely critical however we proceed. For the rest, what will tip the balance will be reports and/or pictures from Hong Kong of any violence being used.

3.

We need to consolidate this "understanding" in the coming weeks. But we should do this quietly and patiently through our normal briefings and in response to daily questions. We should not seek to raise the temperature on the issue by a pro-active policy that would alert our critics and too easily backfire on us. The underlying theme must be that we are not doing anything that is not done every day all over the world. There may in due course be occasions when we shall need Mr Maude or the Secretary of State (in Kuala Lumpur) to go on radio or television to explain our policy, but this should only be necessary if there appears to be considerable misunderstanding or criticism that calls for Ministerial

intervention.