1
CONE
CONFIDENTIAL
BRIEF FOR CALL BY THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG
ON THE PRIME MINISTER
ESSENTIAL FACTS
1. VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
Hong Kong Government Policy
1. Currently Hong kong Government policy is:
(i) To accept for permanent settlement:
(a) those who are spouses, dependent children or dependent
elderly parents of people who were already permanent
residents of the territory before 1975;
(b) those who are picked up at sea by liong Kong registered
Vessels.
(ii) To provide temporary shelter, peading resettlement else-
where by UNHCR, to:
(a) those who arrive in Hong kong in their own boats;
(b) those who are rescued at sea by vessels for whom Hong
Kong is the next scheduled port of call. 11owever, the
Hong kong Government have now said that they can no
longer automatically apply the first port of call
principle in view of the present overcrowding in Hong
Kong.
Fresent Situation in tong hong
2. Numbers
(a) 9,200 former residents of Vietnam (plus a further 2,500
Laotians and Cambodians) have been accepted for permanent
settlement in Hong Kong since 1975.
/(b)
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