278*
Govern- ng oud, it is of hould have turn means ies. It was ectly to the ble friend in
Government ho lives in
on.
This
ers but also g in unsatis- Within 'this en to people ire or natural come danger-
to be moved development, new housing, ey, too, are erwise, every- e case in this is a waiting. ears in Hong some parts of ounds a long dships to bear e problem, as figures I have eat efforts that h it. I should of those in a
re with regard using in Hong
had recently be allowed to are the boat who are fairly and its history has always had most of whom hg also a great marine trades, They are part of g all around the enturies people es afloat, hardly Hong Kong the hed steadily over ose families have lions have taken ago there were ellers in Hong oning is about on land, and g on land, has hese and other
279
Hong Kong:
[7 MARCH 1979 ]
figures. Many of these people still make their living from fishing, but there are also a large number of squatters-that is, people who, unable to find accommoda- tion ashore, live on boats moored in various typhoon shelters and anchorages around Hong Kong. They fall into three categories.
First, there are the traditional Hong Kong people who, although they have now taken jobs ashore, continue to live on their boats for want of other accom- modation. Secondly, there are Hong Kong land dwellers who have resorted to boats as a cheaper from of accom- modation. Thirdly, there are recent illegal immigrants from China who arrive in their own boats and continue to live on them until they can be resettled. I shall have a word to say about refugees and the causes for the mass exodus into Hong Kong in recent weeks.
"The policy of the Hong Kong Govern- ment towards boat squatters is exactly the same as towards land squatters-to allow them to remain where they are until they can be moved into suitable sub- sidised public housing. However, the boats on which they live are examined from time to time and if they are found to be in a dangerous condition the occupants are moved to temporary housing ashore. Since 1977 922 people from 111 boats which have been found to be dangerous have been rehoused for that reason. Apart from this, the Hong Kong Govern- ment believe there is no justification for giving the boat people priority over other applicants for government housing, and they must apply in the normal way; many of them do so, and over 80,000 boat dwellers have been rehoused by the Government since 1960.
the incident
on
I now turn 10 7th January. We have received a full report from the Governor of Hong Kong. Since September last year there has been a series of demonstrations and petitions by a particular group of boat dwellers, those from the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter, who are seeking priority in the allocation of public housing. Although some of these demonstrations were not author- ised and I shall describe the arrange- ments for obtaining permits later-no action was taken against the organisers or those involved until 24th December. On that day 150 boat dwellers, with 50
Arrest of Petitioners
280
other supporters, assembled to march to the Government's Central Offices. As no
permit had been obtained for the march, the police warned the demonstrators that their action was unlawful and advised them to disperse. Most of them did so, but a few remained, to hold, as they said, a Press conference. The police took no further action on that occasion.
On 7th January, which is the occasion to which my noble friend has referred, a group of boat dwellers and sympathisers the Governor's to go to assembled to residence to present a petition. They had not applied for a permit and were warned that their action was unlawful. This time they declined to disperse and instead set out in two coaches to present their petition. Along the way the coaches were stopped by the police and the occupants were again warned that their demonstra- tion was illegal. They were told that, while two representatives could in fact proceed to present their petition, the rest of them should disperse. When they refused to do so, the police escorted the coaches to a police station and charged the occupants with unlawful assembly.
Lord BROCKWAY: My Lords, if my noble friend will allow me to intervene, is it not the case that when they were asked to disperse they themselves suggested that the coaches should be allowed to go to the not distant Botanical Gardens and they they would disperse there; and they would be satisfied with three going in a deputa- tion to the Governor?
Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS: My Lords, that may be so. I have no infor- mation of quite that nature. I am not for a moment doubting my noble friends' words. All I know is that after the first time there was this attempt to demon- strate, to process, without fulfilling the which | requirements of the ordinance
everybody else accepts; namely, applying for a permit. From that flows the incident we are discussing. If it were a momentary lack of attention to the needs of the ordinance in not applying for a permit for this particular purpose at that time, 7th January, I think we would take a rather dim view of this action concerning these people with whom we sympathise so much.
But this was not the first time; they had been warned before and they persisted.
For
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