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until 1978. Greater freedom of movement in China, then led to a
sharp increase: over 8,000 illegal immigrants were repatriated,
and probably about 30,000 succeeded in entering Hong Kong. In
1979 the situation has become much worse: 36,000 were repatriated
in the first five months, 14,000 of them in May. At the beginning
of June, the numbers continued to rise, though by the middle of
the month there were signs of a falling off. It is, however too
soon to know whether this is more than a temporary lull. At least
100,000 have succeeded in entering Hong Kong this year.
MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM
Representations to the Chinese Government
Diplomatic representations have been made to the Chinese authori-
ties in London, Hong Kong and Peking. The Chinese have repeatedly
promised to take steps to reduce the flow and have claimed credit
for the steady decrease in legal immigrants this year. They have
so far failed to take effective measures to deal with illegal
departures. However, there have been indications within the last
week that they may be making a new effort.
MEASURES IN HONG KONG
The security forces in Hong Kong have stepped up patrols on
the Hong Kong side of the border, making the maximum possible use
of the available garrison, of the Hong Kong police force and of
local volunteers. As a result the ratio of those arrested to
those who evade capture has improved from 1:3 to 1:2 or better in
recent months. Agreement has recently been reached for the re-
inforcement of the garrison, to allow these measures to be in-
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/tensified