Speech #1010100259

President. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and other highranking British officials have made the position of the British Government quite clear. Unless these Vietnamese refugees return to Vietnam voluntarily. they will. in the near future. be returned involuntarily. in other words. forced repatriation. The enmity Hong Kong citizens have for the Vietnamese is no secret. and Hong Kong officials have tried just about everything to deter the arrival of the Vietnamese boat people. Those not deterred by a highly arbitrary and unfair refugee screening program. instituted in June 1988. are forced to live in appalling conditions. In fact. beginning earlier this year. refugees were forced to live on a remote island with no shelter. no electricity. no running water or sanitary facilities. until a cholera outbreak required evaluation. Only a tiny number of refugees live in open camps with the right to move freely and the right to work in Hong Kong. Despite these conditions. freedom is a strong magnet. Thousands of refugees continue to seek asylum in Hong Kong. We are now faced with the forcible return of helpless asylumseekers back to one of the most repressive nations in the world. The refugees have made clear their opposition to returning and have threatened violence and suicide. Their attitude Is understandable. The British. however. claim that boat people are merely "economic immigrants." and. as such. are deportable as illegal aliens. Some may be. but determination of their status under the flawed Hong Kong screening policy is wholly unreliable. The evidence is that the vast majority of the boat people are true refugees. Mr. President. we all should be outraged that forced repatriation of Vietnamese asylumseekers is even being considered. Imagine. if Soviet or East German refugees were forcibly returned. Western nations would rise up in opposition. It appears. however. that the United States is virtually alone in opposing the forcible repatriation of Vietnamese refugees. I am very grateful to President Bush. to Secretary Baker. to Deputy Secretary Eagleburger. and others in the administration. for their strong position against forced repatriation. I also urge them to hold Lhe line and encourage my colleagues to do likewise.