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THE VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE : A SOLUTION TO THE EXODUS
Martin Barrow, a member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, welcomes the new U.S. initiative
into a dialogue with Vietnam over Cambodia and believes that this will lead to a lifting of the trade embargo and normalisation of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam. Voluntary repatriation will further pick up if international relations with Vietnam can be improved, particularly by the United States. He calls on the United Kingdom and Hong Kong to put pressure on the United States to normalise relations, rather than trying to persuade them to accept forced repatriation, which is not in Hong Kong's self-interest. At the same time,
the Hong Kong and Vietnamese Governments and the UNHCR must step up counselling activities and simplify procedures in order to speed up the voluntary programme, and continue to publicise the futility of setting off for Hong Kong.
There is an encouraging international realization that the solution to the problem of the exodus of people from Vietnam lies in the rehabilitation of Vietnam itself. This will remove the need for departures from Vietnam and at the same time help to solve the problem of the people stranded in Hong Kong. Normalisation of relations will provide the psychological boost required to encourage voluntary repatriation to pick up and Hong Kong should be able to avoid the risks of attempting forced repatriation.
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There are now strong grounds for hope that the boat people crisis has passed - only 131 ethnic Vietnamese arrived from northern Vietnam in the first eight months of 1990:
1989
1990
%
(Jan-Aug)
Ethnic Vietnamese
From the South
2,596
1,265
-51
From the North
27,575
131
-99
30,171
1,396
-95
Ethnic Chinese
From the South
1,245
2,855
+ 129
From the North
399
158
-60
1,644
3,013
+83
Total
31,815
4,409
-86
Although the arrival of ethnic Chinese from the South has increased, the numbers are relatively small and a higher proportion are likely to be classified as refugees.
These figures show that the action by Vietnam to prevent departures has been effective, as have the combined efforts of the United Nations and the Hong Kong and British Governments in publicizing the futility of setting off for Hong Kong.
It is disheartening, therefore, that the mainline approach continues to be to "batter" the United States into accepting a policy of forced repatriation, rather than to encourage the restoration of economic relations with Vietnam and the recognition of the Hanoi Government. Forced repatriation of tens of thousands of people is no solution to Hong Kong's dilemma.
The comparison is often drawn with the return by Hong Kong of Chinese illegal immigrants to China. It is easy to understand why Hong Kong people, many of whom have close family ties to China, should argue that the boat people should receive no more favourable treatment. However, there are differences: there is a bi-lateral agreement between China and Hong Kong and there is no realistic alternative to a tough policy at the border with China since Hong Kong would be rapidly swamped without it. In contrast, the Vietnamese boat people constitute an international problem, to which, for many years, the international community has contributed by accepting for resettlement overseas all those who left.
It is not the validity of the comparison which is important, but the perception and the drama of the boat people issue. Whilst some find it difficult to refute the case for forced repatriation, Hong Kong must face the reality of its unique position. With ongoing media interest in Hong Kong, the spectacle of women and children being forcibly repatriated would harm Hong Kong's international reputation.
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