'I was told if we didn't go back there would be trouble'

ONE of 129 Vietnamese boat people repatriated yesterday said Hong Kong officials had threatened them with tear-gassing if they did not return to Vietnam.

Tran Trung Dung, who had friends killed in the 1992 Sek Kong fire and whose wife deserted him during his stay in Hong Kong, said he decided to volunteer to leave after the threats.

''I was told that if we didn't go back to Vietnam there would be trouble and that the same thing that happened in section seven [of the Whitehead Detention Centre] could happen to us, only worse,'' he said.

Mr Tran, 37, was in section five at Whitehead on April 7 - the day 1,250 Correctional Services Department (CSD) and police officers stormed the compound firing 557 canisters of tear-gas in what was officially termed a transfer operation.

He said CSD staff and a UNHCR officer both said the raid on section seven was something that could happen to himself and others.

''Only one day after the raid they said this, and I immediately signed up to go to Vietnam.

''Many people who came on the flight to Vietnam with me felt also that if they didn't go their children could be hurt like the ones in section seven.'' More than 270 people sought treatment for burns and other injuries in the days after the raid, which is now the subject of an independent inquiry ordered by Governor Chris Patten.