SWEDEN 8.
1557
0.5
VIETNAM (VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION) 4.
CHINA 1.
IVORY COAST 1.
SPAIN 1.
1.
3. AS FORESEEN IN REFTEL THERE WAS A SHARP DECLINE IN RESETTLEMENT
IN DECEMBER FROM THE RECORD LEVEL OF 5,056 IN NOVEMBER. UNLESS THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT NEW OFFERS WE EXPECT IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO REACH 4,000 PER MONTH OVER THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1980.
4. OUR PROVISIONAL ESTIMATE IS THAT AT 1 JANUARY HONG KONG HAD ROUGHLY 40 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL BOAT REFUGEE BURDEN IN THE REGION. OVER 33,000 OF THE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG HAVE NOW BEEN WAITING IN CAMPS FOR 6 MONTHS OR LONGER.
5. AS BACKGROUND IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT SO FAR THIS YEAR THERE HAVE BEEN AN ESTIMATED 185,000 LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM
CHINA, UNLIKE REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM, THESE IMMIGRANTS ARE A PERMANENT ADDITION TO HONG KONG'S POPULATION. THE STRAIN WHICH THIS CAUSES MAKES EVEN MORE URGENT THE NEED FOR A HIGHER RATE
OF RESETTLEMENT OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES GIVEN TEMPORARY ASYLUM,
FILE.S SEAD
NK GD UND NENS.D
MA MULLAW