A slightly shortened version of the original report.
Ten years after the plight of the Vietnamese ‘boat people’ first excited world-wide compassion, Britain has adopted a controversial new policy of sending them back to their homeland
As the colonial authority over Hong Kong, Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe bowed to local pressure over a major refugee build-up this year and declared that “boat people” will not in future be automatically entitled to refugee status. Thousands of Vietnamese now face an enforced return as “illegal immigrants
Reporting from both Hong Kong and Vietnam, Peter Gill examines how “compassion fatigue” in the West and Vietnam’s emergence from 15 years of political isolation are combining to thwart the aspirations of the “boat people” for a better life in the west.
First shown: 15/12/1988
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Quote: VT:45527
27 авг 2024