* END OF 1978 THERE WERE 5.391 REFUGEES IN HONG KONG RESETILENENT OVERSEAS. A NUMBER WHICH REPRESENTED A 3. C. ALTHOUGH UNWELCOME, PROBLEM. BUT, BY AST-HAYTHE WOW GROWN BY A NET 17.360 TO THE FIGURE I HAVE JUST E OF 22,BEL. UP TO THE END OF APRIL THE NUMBER OF
R
THE
PT AN AVERAGE OF 5.851 PER MONTH EXCEEDED THE NUMBER RTURES FOR RESETTLEMENT OF A MERE 723 PER MONTH SEMICOLON HE RUMBER OF ARRIVALS IN THE MONTH OF APRIL AT 6,143 WAS DRTSTER THAN THE AVERAGE MONTHLY NUMBER OF ARRIVALS IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THE YEAR WHEN THE FIGURES WERE BOOSTED BY THE BARIVAL OF TWO OCEAN-GOING SHIPS, THE WEY FONG AND THE SKY LUCK CARRYING 3.318 AND 2.651 REFUGEES RESPECTIVELY. THERE IS NO EMIDERSE YET THAT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LEAVING VIETNAM IS BEING REDUCER SND. CERTAINLY, THE FLOW OF ARRIVALS IN HONG KONG SHOWS NO SIGN OF SLACK-NING: IN THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF NAY, ANOTHER 43 SMALL BOATS HAVE ARRIVED CARRYING ANOTHER 1.142 REFUGEES, SO WE NOW HAVE 23,963 REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM IN HONG KONG. EVEN IF THE PRACTICE OF CHARTERING OR PURCHASING OCEAN-GOING SHIPS FOR THE TROOPORT OF PEOPLE MAY NOW BE TOO TROUBLESOME, THE ONSET OF WARM WEATHER AND THE FACT THAT THE PREVAILING WINDS ARE FROM THE SOUTH-WEST FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS WILL MAKE THE PASSAGE DF JUNKS AND OTHER SHALL 3DATS EASIER.
END OF
APRIL
40. IN RELATION TO ITS SIZE, HONG KONG IS TAKING MORE THAN ITS FAIR SHARE OF THE BURDEN OF PROVIDING FACILITIES FOR THE TEMPORARY ASYLUM OF REFUGEES FROM INDOCHINA. AND, FURTHERMORE, GIVEN PRESENT POPULATION DENSITIES, AND OUR OTHER IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS: HONG KONG SIMPLY CANNOT CONTENPLATE ACCEPTING THESE PEOPLE FOR PERMANENT SETTLEMENT SEMICOLON NOR CAN THEY BE PERMITTED TO DISTURB THE LABOUR MARKET TO THE DETRIMENT OF HONG KONG RESIDENTS. FOR THE TIME REING, WE SHALL JUST HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT A VERY REAL STRAIN WILL BE THROWN ON OUR ADMINISTRATIVE AND SOCIAL SERVICES, AND FACE UP TO THE DRAIN ON OUR FINANCIAL RESOURCES, BUT IT WOULD BE MOST UNFAIR TO DEMAND OF A COMMUNITY WHICH, AGAINST GREAT ODDS, HAS PULLED ITSELF UP BY ITS OWN EFFORTS IN A UNIQUELY RESOURCELESS SITUATIONS TO BEAR A DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THE BURDEN OF THIS REGIONAL PROBLEM INDEFINITELY. AND I SAY THIS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE POPULATION SURGE WE HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST 2 1/4 YEARS AS A RESULT OF NET IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA AND ELSEWHERE. HAS MEANT THAT WE HAVE LOST GROUND IN OUR EFFORTS TO IMPROVE
THIS THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF HONG KONG PEOPLE, FOR OUR PLANNING TARGETS ARE BASED ON POPULATION PROJECTIONS WHICH ARE NO LONGER VALID. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE FIGURES OF NET IMMIGRATION FROM EARLY 1977 TOURTE FOR OUR FUTURE POPULATION GROWTH ARE SELF-EVIDENT: PROJECTIONS BASED ON THE 1976 BY-CENSUS, AND WHAT WERE THEN CONSIDERED TO BE REASONABLE ASSUMPTIONS RELATING TO NET IMMIGRATION, HAD SUGGESTED A POPULATION OF ABOUT 5.2 MILLION BY 1986, IMPLYING, FOR EXAMPLE, A REQUIREMENT FOR LOW COST PUBLIC HOUSING FOR 1 1/2 MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE TEN YEARS ENDING 1986, AFTER ALLOWING FOR A LARGE NUMBER STILL INADEQUATELY HOUSED, A CONTINUATION OF LAST YEAR'S RATE OF NET IMMIGRATION OF 96,000 WOULD RAISE THE POPULATION TO SIX MILLION SEMICOLON YET EVEN THIS PROJECTION COULD BE TOO LOW SHOULD THE PRESENT RATE OF NET IMMIGRATION CONTINUE. AND THE GREAT UNFAIRNESS OF THIS PROSPECT IS THAT THE RATE OF NATURAL INCREASE HAS BEEN SO SUCCESSFULLY CONTAINED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS.
1
$
Page 150Page 151