Parliamentary Unit
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HKK 243/2
RECEIVED KOMITY NO. 51
DESK OFFR
RY
PQ : HONG KONG: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
No
CRE
is 12 Af2012
1. I submit a draft reply to a PQ by Dr Edmund Marshall MP for
written answer. The substance of the draft has been cleared
with the Hong Kong Government.
2. Hong Kong has since the mid-70s been one of the three major
destinations for boat refugees from Vietnam. In mid-1979 there
were some 68,000 refugees in the Territory awaiting resettlement.
As a result of resettlement mainly in the United States, Canada
and the UK, the figure fell steadily to a total of about 10,000
at the end of April 1982.
3. Although the outflow from Vietnam has dropped, the number
being moved out of Hong Kong has fallen even more sharply as
a result of the cutback in resettlement places elsewhere. The
UK quota of 10,000 has been filled and the Americans have cut
theirs back very considerably, as have the Canadians and the
rest. This, along with seasonal factors, has resulted in a rise
in numbers in Hong Kong since early May, reflected in the figures
given in reply to Dr Marshall's PQs on 8 April (10,440) and
2
1 July (11,253).
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4. The present increase in numbers is of great concern to the
Hong Kong Government, and has already led to a decision to detain
all new arrivals in closed camps.
Bip
R D Clift
Hong Kong and General Department
9 July 1982
сс
PS/Lord Belstead
Mr Donald
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