CONFIDENTIAL
7.
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
Hong Kong Government Policy
1.
The Hong Kong Government provide temporary refuge, pending
permanent resettlement elsewhere by UNHCR, for all refugees who
reach the territory in their own boats or are brought there after
being picked up at sea by vessels for whom Hong Kong is the next
scheduled port of call (in view of present overcrowding in Hong
Kong, they may no longer automatically accept the first port of
call principle)
Numbers of Refugees
2.
On 22 June, there were 57, 173 Vietnamese refugees in
Hong Kong awaiting resettlement.* Because of processing delays
(partly due to shortage of staff in the UNHCR office) only 14,221
of them were under UNHCR care.
3.
T
55,484 have arrived in Hong Kong this year. Only 4,209 have
been sent on by UNHCR to countries of permanent settlement.'
Action by Hong Kong Government
4.
The Hong Kong Government have introduced tough new laws
to deter trafficking in refugees (the trial of the Captain and
11 others associated with the Huey Fong, which brought 3,400
refugees to Hong Kong in January, is now in process). The
Governor, after discussions with Ministers in London, has met
American officials in Washington and the UN Secretary-General in
New York, and impressed on them the seriousness of Hong Kong's
problems. He is also calling on the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees in Geneva next week.
Illegal Immigration from China
5.
Hong Kong's problems are compounded by a sharp increase in
illegal immigrants from China. While only 8,000 were arrested in
*As there is no space on shore over five thousand are still in
their boats.
/the
CONFIDENTIAL
"1