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04
In this regard, UNHCR must express its most acute concern at the manner in which a massive police contingent conducted a weapons search at Whitehead at 0500 hours on Friday, 4 May 1990. The lack of prior consultation with UNHCR staff and the apparent absence of any prior notification to the residents as to the intended purpose of the operation, the use of various kinds of tear gas directed in enclosed spaces at a camp population comprising large numbers of women and children as well as other vulnerable persons, the reported abuse of asylum seekers during the operation and the widescale destruction of personal property as well as extensive damage to educational facilities can, in our view, have no result but further to radicalize the centre population and increase the risks of even more serious tensions and violence. This prospect far outweighs the short-term result of the removal of a large number of home made weapons. Please find attached the account, completed yesterday, on the operation in question which, we believe, illustrates the basis of the concern expressed by our office. Further comments on the specific means employed in this operation will be communicated to you shortly.
Let me conclude by stating that UNHCR still remains fully at the disposal of the Government of Hong Kong to provide advice on ways and means to reduce the levels of violence and tension in the detention centres. We must, however, stress that the 4 May operation can, in our view, only add to the problems we face and, for the reasons mentioned earlier, may easily lead us to a situation totally out of control.
We must in these circumstances insist on prior consultations in these matters if UNHCR is to be able to continue its presence and perform its role in the detention centres.
Yours sincerely,
Anne Dawson Shepherd
Anne Dawson-Shepherd Acting Chief of Mission
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