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transit facilities already built in Vietnam to receive them, would be the time to send back the first group of non-volunteers. With no volunteers left in the pipeline, it would be hard for the US, UNHCR, the media, or anyone else, to argue against our action: and without such a clamour against us, the chances of compliance on the part of the non-volunteers might be the greater.
LEGCO AND HONG KONG REACTIONS
15. This course of action also gives us a case to present to LegCo and others. We could argue that the first necessity was to get an agreement in place with the Vietnamese so that we could proceed with
mandatory reptriation when the time came. The next stage was to set up the mechanics of a regular and systematic flow back into Vietnam, at a rate which would solve the problem in three years. We had then worked on the objective of achieving such a flow, beginning with volunteers and moving on to non-volunteers when the supply of
volunteers ran out. And we could also provide a little information about other action being considered to stop next years' influx.
16. I apologise for the length and haste with which I have put
these ideas on paper, but as is evident, there are a number of pieces to line up in a complex pattern of moves. I hope that the overall shape of this strategy is clear. I should be grateful for
views.
Charles Haswell
CC D Haswell
GABAAJ (5)
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