Vietnamese Boat People (Hansard, 10 January 1990)

§ 16. Mr. Kennedy
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Vietnamese boat people have been repatriated from Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maude
A total of 925 Vietnamese boat people have been repatriated from Hong Kong. Eight hundred and seventy-four of these volunteered to return. The remaining 51 were the subject of the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 12 December. I have nothing to add to what was said then.
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§ 71. Mr. Wilson
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on the forced repatriation of Vietnamese from Hong Kong.

§ Mr. Maude
We have received a number of representations on the repatriation of the first group of non-volunteer boat people to Vietnam. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said in his statement on 12 December, no force was used. The repatriation was conducted in line with procedures used worldwide to remove people refused permission to remain in a territory.

§ 66. Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to monitor the treatment in Vietnam of forcibly repatriated boat people.

§ Mr. Maude
No boat people have been forcibly repatriated. Normal removal procedures, which are applied worldwide in returning people refused permission to remain, were used. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs envisaged in his statement on 12 December, Her Majesty's embassy in Hanoi has monitored the conditions of the group of non-volunteers who have returned, both in the transit camp in Hanoi and in the villages to which they have subsequently returned. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Raison) and Lord Ennals are visiting Vietnam from 7 to 11 January as independent observers to report on the conditions of those who have returned.

§ 61. Mr. Lawrence
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many non-refugee Vietnamese boat people have been returned to Vietnam to date; and with what result.

§ Mr. Maude
A total of 925 non-refugee Vietnamese boat people have returned to Vietnam. The monitoring undertaken by the UNHCR and Her Majesty's embassy in Hanoi has shown that none has been detained or punished for having left Vietnam.