Vietnamese Migrants

HC Deb 20 October 1992 vol 212 cc252-3W

Mr. Lester

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Vietnamese migrants.

Mr. Goodlad

A further 118 Vietnamese illegal immigrants were repatriated from Hong Kong under the orderly repatriation programme on two flights, 60 on 4 August and 58 on 10 October. All had undergone the UN High Commissioner for Refugees approved screening and appeal procedures and found not to be refugees.

The UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme is proving most successful. More than 28,000 have already been repatriated under this system from the region without a single substantiated report of persecution. We hope that all non-refugees now in Hong Kong will decide to follow them. The clearing of the Hong Kong camps will enable genuine refugees to be properly looked after and resettled as appropriate.