TNAG-2401-FCO40-3488-Vietnamese-migrants-Orderly-Repatriation-Programme-(ORP)-1992 — Page 79

VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS: PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT

The British, Hong Kong and Vietnamese Governments signed a

Statement of Principles on 29 October 1991 on a Programme for the

Orderly Repatriation of Vietnamese illegal immigrants, ie those who had left Vietnam clandestinely, have been determined under screening

processes monitored by UNHCR not to be refugees, and who did not

volunteer to return home.

On the same occasion documents were signed covering the modalities for the orderly repatriation of non-refugees who arrived in Hong

Kong after 29 October 1991 and those who, having already been voluntarily repatriated, returned to Hong Kong in the hope of collecting a further UNHCR reintegration allowance.

So far 123 people have been returned to Vietnam under these

arrangements. During the same period some 7,500 have returned

voluntarily.

Agreement has now been reached with the Vietnamee on the

modalities for the return to Vietnam of illegal immigrants who

arrived in Hong Kong before 29 October 1991. Arrangements are therefore now in place for the return of all Vietnamese migrants now

in Hong Kong who after careful screening have been found not to be

refugees.

The British Government supports voluntary repatriation and has been encouraged by the numbers applying to return to Vietnam in this

way. However there will inevitably be some who do not volunteer, and for these people it will be necessary to arrange additional repatriation flights from time to time.

The Vietnamese Government has reconfirmed that no illegal immigrant who returns to Vietnam will face persecution and that it will continue to facilitate the monitoring in Vietnam of those who return by UNHCR, HMG and others, to ensure that this guarantee is fully respected. Since 1988 more than 20,000 Vietnamese migrants have returned voluntarily from the region without a single substantiated case of persecution.

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