NEARLY 30 Vietnamese volunteered to go home in what appeared to be a direct reaction to the military-style dawn raid on Whitehead detention centre in April.
The secretary of the inquiry into the raid, Anthony Bennett, said he believed the swoops, in which tear-gas and Mace was used by 1,250 officers in full riot gear, was the final straw for the group.
Asked whether it was the raid itself which provoked them into volunteering, he said: ''It looks rather like it. Some of the ones we've spoken to seemed to have just had enough.'' The group of 30, including ''one or two'' who had volunteered to leave before the raid, were taken back to Whitehead's Section A and are awaiting repatriation.
The raid by Correctional Services Department (CSD) officers and police took place on April 7. A total of 557 tear-gas canisters were fired following 28 minutes of negotiation to move 1,500 detainees to High Island camp.
The Government initially said 250 canisters were fired and that only one woman was injured. It admitted a few days later that 200 had been hurt.
Governor Chris Patten ordered an independent inquiry into the use of force and appointed Justices of the Peace Andrew Li Kwok-nang QC and Professor David Todd to conduct it.
Mr Bennett said they had completed almost all the field work interviewing 265 detainees who were involved in the transfer.