From 1988, the scale of the problem increased dramatically,
with a major new outflow of Vietnamese migrants. It had been clear for some time that the majority of those arriving
were economic migrants (many from the northern part of Vietnam), rather than genuine refugees with a well-founded fear of persecution. In response to these new circumstances, the Hong Kong Government decided, with Britain's, full support, that from 16 June 1988, all Vietnamese arrivals would be subject to a screening procedure. This procedure was approved by the office of the UNHCR, and based on internationally accepted criteria, to distinguish between those who were refugees and those who were not. It was developed in close consultation with the UNHCR, to ensure that it was fair and thorough and that genuine refugees would not be returned to Vietnam.
Since
the CPA came into effect, more than 20,000 Vietnamese have
returned. Monitoring of returnees by UNHCR representatives and British officials has uncovered no evidence of any
mistreatment by the Vietnamese.
Other places of first asylum adopted similar screening measures as part of the CPA. The second ICIR confirmed that those Vietnamese who qualified as refugees should be resettled, while those who did not should return to their
country of origin. The effectiveness of the Plan of Action was reviewed by officials in October 1989 and January 1990, at meetings of the Steering Committee of the ICIR. However, both meetings broke up when it became apparent that there would be no agreement on the repatriation of Vietnamese asylum seekers who were not classified as refugees.
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