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perhaps
indefinitely thereafter is
profoundly worrying for the
following reasons:
of
stay
(a) A s the length
increases and the prospects
in camps, particularly closed camps,
for resettlement for most refugees
remain poor or worsen, despair may set in and give rise to
disturbances of which we have already had a foretaste (para 7(a)
above). Hunger strikes will probably give way to riots. There are
children now growing up in the camps who will have lived their whole
lives in confinement.
(b) Long term detention
for resettlement.
UNHCR
is not a suitable way to prepare refugees
and others are concerned that refugees who
spend a long time in closed centres will lose their will to regain
their self-sufficiency.
(c) The local Chinese population of Hong Kong consider it unjust
that Vietnamese are allowed to remain indefinitely
in Hong Kong
while illegal immigrants from China are repatriated. They find it
difficult to accept that public money should be spent on building,
equipping and running refugee centres rather than on social services
and other amenities for the local population. (The cost to the Hong
Kong government of providing asylum for Vietnamese refugees in the
next financial year will be HK$ 103 million, of which HK$ 22.5
million will probably be reimbursed by UNHCR). There i s a general
feeling that Hong Kong is being asked to shoulder more than its fair
share of the Vietnamese refugee burden.
(d) The Hong Kong Government and HMG will face strong humanitarian
lobbying to end the closed centre policy, especially if there are
outbreaks of violence.
(e) Legal questions may be raised about the closed centre policy;
(E) Finally, it is possible that, if the problem continues unsolved
becomes more serious, we may face Chinese pressure to set our
or
house in order before 1997.
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