SIXTY Vietnamese were deported to China yesterday under a controversial $500,000 deal between Hong Kong and mainland authorities.
The 24 men, 15 women and 21 children arrived in Hong Kong up to two years ago after fleeing China, where provincial authorities had bulldozed their makeshift homes to make way for a development.
They were returned to Beihai in Guangxi region yesterday on a Southern China Airlines charter flight.
About 260 other ex-China Vietnamese remain in Hong Kong and are to be deported in the coming months.
Secretary for Security Peter Lai Hing-ling said the group were sent back under an agreement made with China in March. Beijing was paid $500,000 by Hong Kong to cover what were called 'processing costs'. The Government has failed to explain what those costs relate to or why the payment was necessary.
Some of the deportees complained to a refugee lawyer, Rob Brook, that they had been duped by the Government.