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Director for Refugee Affairs. But all the Director, Michael Cartland,
had to say was: "What do you expect from prison warders who are used
to running a maximum security jail?" Cartland had admitted that the
Hong Kong Government was consciously attempting to make life un
comfortable for the refugees in order to stop further landings.
Well-informed circles believe that Hong Kong was disappointed that
the West had not responded to the Crown Colony's humanitarian gesture
with massive resettlement quotas.
Hong Kong's Deputy Secretary for Security, Morris Morgan, claims
to have heard nothing about the ill-treatment of refugees. "We do
not go around ill-treating people." But Dr. Lee Shiuhung, a Deputy
Director of the Hong Kong health authorities, stated after a visit
to the Chimawan camp that he had been shocked by the conditions
there. He later had his secretary point out that the press had
misunderstood him.
Government officials now turned the tables. The Hong Kong Secret
Service department for Vietnam refugees stated in a report that
the refugees had been behaving like vandals and had caused damage
to camp property necessitating repairs costing $ 200,000. In
Chimawan, refugees were even using the drinking water springs as
a toilet. But the secret service was misadvised. All the drinking
water in Chimawan is piped. The only spring is used to fertilise
small areas of cultivated farming land. Maitland finally got his
a copy of a speech delivered by the Secretary for Security,
Lewis Davis, on 10 August. Here was proof that the "policy of
conscious neglect" had been initiated that very month. Derek Maitland
reports that the Hong Kong Government is saying nothing. It has no
hands on
knowledge of an official detailed enquiry into alleged inhuman practices
by Government employees.