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Oral Answers
16 JANUARY 1980
and others who are threatened with evic- tion from their homes and work places, such as is the case of the villagers of Muk Min Ha in the New Territories? Is he not ashamed to have responsibility for a British colony where such fascist legisla- tion still exists?
Oral Answers
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Mr. Ridley: I
agree with the h n. Gentleman that it presents a major prop. lem to have so many Vietnamese refuges in Hong Kong. About 10,000 of them are about to come to the United King- dom. Others will go to other countries, The more that can be done to persuade other countries to accept more of these refugees for permanent settlement, the better. As for immigration from mam. land China, the recent visit of Chairn Hua Kuo-feng has resulted in much
Mr. Ridley: We do not instruct the Governor, but the hon. Gentleman pro- bably knows that extensive discussions have been taking place on the public order ordinance. The Hong Kong Gov-proved border security arrangements. The ernment expect to introduce amendments flow has greatly reduced, to the great to that ordinance in the near future to assistance of Hong Kong. deal with the problem that he has men- tioned.
:
Sir John Eden: Will my hon. Friend make clear to the Governor and the
people of Hong Kong our appreciation of the way in which they are accom- modating a substantial flow of immi- grants into their country and giving sanc- tuary to a large number of refugees? In spite of the economic difficulties to which these factors give rise, the colony is still a most significant market for British goods in Asia.
Mr. Ridley: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for saying what I think should be said about the extraordinary successes of Hong Kong economically and in terms of humanitarian assistance in dealing with refugees from all quarters. There are still 55,000 Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong. I am sure that the House will appreciate that that is an enormous burden on the Administration of Hong Kong.
Mr. Rowlands: Is not the fact that there are still 55,000 boat people in Hong Kong a comment on the resettlement pro- grammes which have been introduced, which are obviously failing in terms of speed and time scale to deal with the serious problem that has arisen?
Mr. Marlow: What about Merthyr?
Mr. Rowlands: The people of Merthyr volunteered to take refugees from Viet- nam, as did many other communities.
What is the position with the large- scale illegal inflow of refugees or immi- grants into Hong Kong from China? What was the result of the important dis- cussions with the distinguished Chinese guests of a few months ago?
20 H 6
Rhodesia
9. Mr. Hooley asked the Lord Privy Seal what reports he has received from the Governor of Southern Rhodesia
about the activities of foreign troops or mercenaries in that territory.
Sir Ian Gilmour: There are persons of various nationalities serving with the Rhodesian forces, as there are with the Patrotic Front forces. The Government made clear during the constitutional con- ference that there would be no purge of the forces of either side during the in- terim period. The Governor has agreed that a small contingent of South African forces should be stationed at Beit bridge on the Rhodesian-South African border
for the protection of the bridge.
Mr. Hooley: Now that the Government have quite shamelessly admitted to the presence of South African troops on Rho- desian territory, in flagrant contradiction of the explicit assurances given to the House that such troops would not be per- mitted there, does that not cast a shadow over the good faith of the Government in the implementation of the Lancaster House agreement?
Sir I. Gilmour: No, of course it does not. It is astonishing that the hon. Gentle- man should get up and ask the same question that has been asked already by three hon. Members.
Mr. Russell Kerr: We still want an
answer.
Sir I. Gilmour: Many other matters are of greater importance to the House, such as the breaches of the ceasefire and the detention of ZANU detainees by Mr. Mugabe in Mozambique. To con- centrate on the matter referred to by the
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