control.
SECRET UK EYES A LOCSEN
9. On the Vietnamese Migrants issue, there had been no political progress. Although the actual numbers leaving Vietnam were down, they were all coming to Hong Kong as the Territory had a more benign approach than other countries. Numbers were now rising from 50 to 70,000. It was anticipated that by the end of June all the camps would be full. The view in the short term was very pessimistic. The Hong Kong people disliked the migrants intensely. It was difficult to find money for new camps. This could lead to an end of the "First Asylum" policy, which in turn would lead to great difficulties in both camps and at sea. The military would continue to help with logistics and moving VMs, but HKG was asking for more. The Garrison had resisted so far, but public pressure would increase. The RHKP were overstretched.
10. CBF stated that smuggling was also being conducted on a large scale, but that a joint police/military approach had brought things under control, and the marine police (MARPOL) morale had increased as a result.
11.
CBF went on to say that the Governor had great problems over finance. Many saw the handover of the border to the police as throwing up more military manpower. Moreover, they saw the VMs as a foreign affairs matter, i.e. a British problem. The Garrison would do more, but if they were to start guarding camps it would be an open ended commitment which could inhibit the Garrison's flexibility to meet other tasks; and in any event they were not trained for it. On the subject of Defence Lands, CBF said the matter was in abeyance with the PRC. All these matters indicated potential problems and it was paramount that HKG had the ability to manage them all. The Garrison had an important role to play as a tool to aid confidence and this should be remembered by MOD.
12. The MOD perspective was given by AUS (C), who began by saying that the planned allocation of passports under the Nationality Scheme for LEPS had been heavily oversubscribed, unlike those for the other disciplined services. He had therefore written to the Home Office with the aim of achieving more generous treatment for garrison staff in the second tranche. The next concern was the Migrants. He endorsed CBF's comments.
We must be very careful about what
C:\WP50\HONGKONG\STEERING\06JUN91.MIN
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