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working hard to secure permanent resettlement of the 12,000 refugees who are now there. Unfortunately, as long as the problem lasts, the Hong Kong Government can see no alternative but to continue the policy of closed centres. The centres are run in co-operation with UNHCR who help to fund them.
I should also like to comment on some of the specific points that Ms Dane raises in her letter.
While it is true that refugees have continued to arrive in Hong Kong since the introduction of the closed centre policy, they have done so at a considerably reduced rate. In 1983 arrivals from Vietnam were 54% less than those for 1982, compared with a decline of 36% for the South East Asian region as a whole. In 1984 the Hong Kong decrease was 39%, and that for the region only 11%. These figures suggest that the policy is having some effect in discouraging boat people from travelling to Hong Kong.
With regard to the separation of spouses as a result of the closed centre policy, the Hong Kong Executive Council agreed in November 1984 that refugees in open centres who claim to have close relatives in a closed centre may live with them in the closed centre on a voluntary basis. The Hong Kong Government are at present asking all those in the open centres who have previously applied for reunion whether they wish to take up this offer.
Ms Dane's assertion that there are no educational facilities in the closed centres is incorrect. Education is provided in all refugee centres by voluntary agencies, with financial support from the Hong Kong Government and UNHCR. This includes both English classes and vocational training. The Hong Kong Government has recently endorsed UNHCR's proposal to employ a full- time educational co-ordinator for all the refugee centres in Hong Kong, and the UNHCR is now seeking to recruit such a person. The Hong Kong Government and UNHCR have also just finalised plans and begun construction of a training centre at the Hei Ling Chau closed centre. The centre will be funded by UNHCR and managed by the World Relief Service and will provide refugees with simple manufacturing skills and training in the use of light machinery. It should be completed in mid-1985.
There are no restrictions on the sending and receiving of letters by the refugees. The only requirements are that the refugees permit the authorities to insert a standard warning notice about the closed centre policy into each outgoing letter addressed to Vietnam, and that all incoming parcels are opened (in front of the addressee) in case they contain weapons or drugs.
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