A Committee has been established under the auspices of the UNHCR to find the best solution for each child on a case-by-case basis and the UNHCR office in Hong Kong have appointed an executive agency to undertake the detailed casework.
We will be watching the work of the UNHCR closely, not least to be doubly sure that children will not be sent back to Vietnam unless they have a family to return to. But I am confident that the Committee will be looking carefully for the right solution in all cases, in the best interests of the children themselves.
The decision to repatriate the boat people last December was not one which the Government relished. But we cannot let the problem continue unresolved. Last year about 34,000 Vietnamese arrived in Hong Kong and there is a serious possibility of at least as many more thousands arriving this year. The world will not resettle those who are not refugees. Hong Kong is small and already overcrowded. The choice is therefore between repatriation or indefinite confinement of steadily larger numbers of people in camps. the better solution.
Repatriation is
dis
Francis Maude
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