SECRETARY for Security Peter Lai Hing-ling, who flew to Vietnam yesterday to meet Interior Ministry officials, denied that any of the boat people released recently had been rejected for repatriation.
His comments contradicted statements by the government Refugees Co-ordinator, Brian Bresnihan, and Immigration Department officials that people had been formally rejected for repatriation on the basis that they were 'non-nationals' of Vietnam.
In November, 125 boat people were released by the Government on the grounds that they had been or would be rejected by Vietnam if they attempted to volunteer for repatriation.
However, Mr Lai, who will be in Hanoi until tomorrow, said the people concerned were on a 'pending' list and had not been rejected.
He acknowledged that his mission was to discuss issues in relation to the repatriation of the 22,000 boat people still in Hong Kong's detention centres, but would not reveal his proposals.
Vietnamese officials have openly stated that they believe some people to be non-nationals and ineligible for return because they are not ethnic Vietnamese or have nationality documents for other countries, such as Taiwan. Mr Lai confirmed his meetings would be with senior officials of the Interior Ministry, which controls immigration matters but keeps an extremely low public profile, and the less influential Foreign Ministry.
