Howe Hints Britain to Forcibly Repatriate Viet Refugees in Hong Kong

Standing in a crowded Vietnamese refugee camp, British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe on Tuesday gave the strongest indication yet that Britain is proceeding with plans to forcibly deport tens of thousands of “boat people” to Vietnam despite the outspoken objections of the United States.

Howe, winding up a three-day visit to Hong Kong, toured two refugee camps, at Whitehead and Shek Kong, a former military air base, where he questioned recent arrivals about conditions in Vietnam.

Turning to television cameras, Howe painted a bleak picture for those wishing to leave Vietnam.

“I urge those still there not to set sail in pursuit of a dream of a life in the West which does not, and cannot, exist. It is cynical indeed for anyone to persuade them otherwise,” Howe said. “There is no prospect that they will be able to make a normal life elsewhere.”

Sees Progress on Repatriation

At a news conference, Howe said Britain is “continuing to make progress with the government of Vietnam over the early repatriation of those people who do not qualify as refugees. I hope that good progress will be apparent before long.”

British officials said that Vietnam, in a turnabout of its public position reiterated only last month, has agreed in principle to take back “boat people” who do not volunteer to return home. Vietnam has reportedly pledged to refrain from taking action against those who return.

The sticking point appears to be an agreement on the amount of financial assistance Britain will agree to provide Vietnam for the process of receiving the refugees and resettling them in new homes.

Hong Kong has been particularly hard hit this year, with 23,591 Vietnamese arriving since Jan. 1. The government is close to running out of space to house the refugees, a point of growing friction with Hong Kong’s ethnic Chinese population.

The British policy of returning “boat people” against their will--in what amounts to mass deportations--runs counter to U.S. policy. At an international conference in Geneva last month on the problem, Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger declared that the United States “will remain unalterably opposed to the forced repatriation of Vietnamese asylum-seekers.”

Howe repeatedly referred to Eagleburger’s remarks Tuesday, suggesting that his logic was faulty in not seeing that repatriation is the only possible solution.

The United States has not said what action it will take if Britain goes ahead with forced repatriation. In addition to Hong Kong, it is widely believed that such Asian states as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore will follow suit if Vietnam agrees to accept returning refugees.

The United States may be able to apply pressure to these countries because it agreed at Geneva to help resettle a substantial number of refugees who have been in the camps of Southeast Asia for several years. Without U.S. assistance, those refugees would remain a burden on the so-called first-asylum countries.

Logistics Unsettled

British officials acknowledged that they have not worked out the logistics involved in shipping the refugees home, a process that could turn into a public relations nightmare.

A number of refugees interviewed Tuesday, who arrived in May, said they fear reprisals if they are forced to return home.

“If they send us back, the socialists will make trouble for me,” said 26-year-old Nguyen Thi Tryun, who told reporters that she had been jailed twice previously for trying to leave the country.

“I know my chance is less than before, but I still hope they will pick me,” said Tryun, one of 4,200 refugees in the two-week-old Shek Kong center.

In July, 1988, Hong Kong instituted a screening process aimed at separating political refugees from so-called economic migrants. So far, more than 90% of the “boat people” who have been screened have been ruled ineligible for refugee status and thus would be sent home.

This would mean that about 30,000 of the current camp population of 47,741 might be sent home, with 14,000 having arrived before last year’s cutoff and entitled to resettlement.

Howe left Hong Kong with very little to show for his hope to encourage Hong Kong’s residents that they have a bright future in the aftermath of the Beijing massacre of June 3-4. The colony reverts to Chinese control on July 1, 1997, and there have been increasing demands that Britain provide safeguards to Hong Kong’s residents.

Howe said he hopes to announce a plan soon to take in some of the colony’s key people from the private and public sector, but he acknowledged that the number will be only a tiny percentage of the 6 million population.

Wallace, The Times’ Bureau chief in Bangkok, Thailand, is on assignment in Hong Kong.