TNAG-1908-FCO40-2712-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-voluntary-and-mandatory-repat-1989 — Page 105

- 2

* The international community, including the US and the UNHCR, has

accepted that all those screened out as non-refugees should return to Vietnam. This principle was explicitly endorsed in the Comprehensive Plan of Action adopted by the International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in Geneva in June of this year. The only question left open was whether to rely entirely on voluntary return.

*

*

The British Government has been continuously pressing the international community to reach clear agreement on what is to happen to non-refugees if they do not volunteer. So far there is no clear answer.

Failure to return those who have been screened out would give the green light for a mass exodus from Vietnam. That would be unrealistic and inhumane. We must convince the Boat People that they should not risk life and all they have chasing a future that, for the great majority, does not, and cannot, exist. That can only be done by returning them to their own country - where their future lies.

The policy of first asylum must be maintained. So far, Hong Kong has taken in all arrivals. No one has been turned away. In order to meet the legitimate claims of those who are genuine refugees, it is essential that we put satisfactory arrangements in place for those who are not genuine refugees.

The returns would be monitored. The Government has always made it clear that no-one would be returned to Vietnam unless it was fully satisfied that they would not be punished for having left; that they would be taken back in safety and dignity; and that the Vietnamese authorities were willing to allow their conditions to be properly monitored. No government requires such undertakings from any other country to which illegal immigrants are returned.

Normal repatriation procedures would be used. The procedures used would be similar to those carried out by all countries in the deportation of illegal immigrants. Hong Kong has vast experience of such procedures: some 12,000 illegal Chinese immigrants have been returned each year over the last decade.

The UK

Britain will honour its commitment to genuine refugees. has already accepted some 20,000 Vietnamese refugees for resettlement in this country. At the Geneva meeting in June, we undertook to resettle an additional 2,000 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong over the next three years. The Government will stand by that commitment.

The Government is considering what assistance could be given to returning Boat People and their communities in the context of a comprehensive repatriation programme. Volunteers for repatriation are already receiving assistance in cash and kind amounting to some $1,000 a head.

Page 105Page 106