the country in which they are living (Vietnam), or of any other country. These criteria, in essence, provide for the entry of:
(a)
wives;
(b)
husbands in certain limited circumstances;
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
unmarried and dependent children under the age of 21;
unmarried children over 21 where there are special extenuating circumstances, e.g. being the only member of the family not in Hong Kong, entirely dependent upon parents in Hong Kong, or physically incapacitated;
parents provided that one is over 50;
widows/widowers wishing to join nearest surviving relatives;
(g)
persons of Chinese race over the age of 60.
!
6
During 1977 the number of applications from dependants in Vietnam had begun to snowball, reaching 21,000 by mid-year. The total now stands at 36, 500 and is still growing fast. These large numbers reflect the deteriorating conditions for the estimated one million Chinese living in Vietnam, as well as the fact that for most of them the special flights to Hong Kong offer the only legal means of leaving the country. Moreover, the lack of any accord between the American and Vietnamese governments covering the entry of dependants to the USA has increased the pressures on people to try to enter Hong Kong as dependants.
7
Since applications to enter Hong Kong were being received at a rate equal to about eight times the capacity of the special flights, and since it was possible that each succeeding flight might be the last, it was necessary to devise some means of giving priority in the issue of Hong Kong entry permits to the more deserving cases. After careful study of the likely effects it was concluded that the fairest solution would be to defer consideration of applications from dependants of dependants.
Dependants of Dependants
8
Under the 1968 policy there is no minimum length of
CONFIDENTIAL