VIETNAM will be asked to review its policy of interviewing applicants for the voluntary repatriation programme in an effort to speed up clearance of the 22,300 boat people remaining in Hong Kong.
Instead, it will be proposed that applications be processed only on the basis of written data - a move Hanoi officials are likely to balk at.
It is understood the issue will be raised formally at a regional meeting next month to take place in either Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur. Such a change would have the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva.
A top UN official who has been appointed to act as a mediator and troubleshooter in completing the Vietnamese programme is expected to push for the changes.
The South China Morning Post revealed yesterday that a meeting in Geneva this week confirmed Sergio Vieira de Mello in the position of mediator and that his role would involve resolving prickly policy issues plaguing Hong Kong and other first-asylum countries detaining Vietnamese boat people.
His previous posting was as the UN head of civil affairs in the former Yugoslavia and his appointment signals a new approach to the Vietnamese issue which has been guided by the Comprehensive Plan of Action since 1989.
