TNAG-2324-FCO40-3368-Hong-Kong-Bill-of-Rights-Vietnamese-boat-people-1991 — Page 23

CONFIDENTIAL

VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE (VBP) AND THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT

ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (ICCPR): OPTIONS

1.

Maintaining the Status Quo

1. We considered the policy introduced in 1982 to be in

breach of the ICCPR. The policy has not been challenged in

that time, but Hong Kong point out four reasons why a

challenge is now more likely to be attempted:

(a) the policy now has a far higher profile both locally

and internationally;

(b) ten times as many people are detained in Hong Kong

now as in the mid-1980s;

(c) pro-Vietnamese lobby groups in Hong Kong and

overseas are far more active;

(d) pre-1988, detention was pending resettlement rather than repatriation. It is repatriation that has generated the most vehement opposition to Hong Kong's policy.

(e) as a result of recent court decisions, a number of gaps in existing legislation have become apparent.

We know that the New York-based human rights lawyers group,

led by Arthur Helton, are preparing to mount a legal challenge to the detention policy.

2.

If Hong Kong do not amend their legislation, they face the possibility of successful legal challenges. These could be varied and numerous. Hong Kong have identified the most

damaging of the possible court findings, for example:

RIDAJO/1

CONFIDENTIAL