Out they came. The Secretary for Security Peter Lai Hing-ling, flanked by Brian Bresnihan - the man with the job, Refugee Co-ordinator, that no one wants - and Crown Solicitor Ian Wingfield.
The wing-men stared into space as Mr Lai read the brief homily that had taken a week to write. From the point of view of the Vietnamese in the camps it led with the best and finished with the worst.
Yes, 214 Vietnamese were being released, but the sting in the tail was that legislation was being urgently drafted to prevent similar 'problems' coming back to haunt the Government.
The questions to Mr Lai followed: 'Do you feel any remorse, any sorrow?' 'Are you going to say sorry to these people for keeping them locked up illegally?' These from the foreign news agency correspondents.
'How much will it cost to keep these people?' 'How many more will you have to release?' These from the local, mostly Chinese-language media.
The Government had long known it faced potential legal problems. It had taken advice several years ago, well before the Privy Council confirmed that advice in a landmark ruling.
Once before it had been lucky; the Court of Appeal let it off the hook by overturning a decision by Mr Justice Brian Keith, who ruled in favour of the boat people in January 1995.