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Resettlement
3.
Resettlement of refugees from Hong Kong is the responsibility
of the UNHCR, who also assume responsibility for looking after the
refugees in Hong Kong oce their status has been established. Because
of processing delays (partly caused by shortage of staff in the UNHCR
office in Hong Kong), only 14,000 of the refugees now in Hong Kong
have so far been taken under UNHCR care. Resettlement is even slower:
only 3,492 refugees have left Hong Kong for resettlement since the
beginning of 1979. At this rate, it will take over 5 years to resettle
all those now in Hong Kong, and the period of delay will continue to
increase as more refugees arrive.
4. The destinations of those who have been resettled this year
were:
United States
2,384
West Germany
440
Canada
285
United Kingdom
252
Norway
29
Australia
29
Switzerland
18
France
Denmark
Netherlands
18
17
15
Italy
New Zealand
Spain
5
1
1
4 have been repatriated to Vietnam and 38 have been allowed to
settle permanently in Hong Kong.