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those leaving Indo-China by boat.
The UK has so far accepted around
19,000 Indo-Chinese although in the last three years it has accepted
less than 500 from Hong Kong. We have continuing international commitments to resettle family reunion and ship rescue cases.
III TREATMENT OF THE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
OPEN AND CLOSED CENTRES
5.
ΑΠ
All refugees arriving from Vietnam are granted refugee status by
the Hong Kong Government under a provision of the Immigration Ordinance (which was specially amended for this purpose). Initially
they we re accommodated in open centres, run jointly by voluntary
agencies and the UNHCR and located in premises within the urban
areas provided by the Hong Kong Government.
They we re
able to move freely in and out of the centres, and to seek outside
employment. (Over 90% of adult heads of families and single adults
in the open centres are employed).
6.
resettlement in Western countries in
Initially the rate of
response to the crisis was high; in 1979 the average monthly rate of
resettlement from Hong Kong was 2,000; in
in 1980 this rose to 3,000,
in 1981 it fell to 1,500; and when, in 1982, it fell to 770 per month, Hong Kong's refugee population rose accordingly (see Table
I Annex A). The Hong Kong Government introduced the closed centre
policy in July of that year.
Since that date, under a further
special provision of the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance, all newly
arriving refugees have been placed in closed centres, where they are detained and are not permitted to seek outside employment. The aim
of this policy is to deter would-be refugees from setting out from Vietnam for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government have attempted to
ensure that news of the policy reaches those still in Vietnam. The
centres are run by specially recruited staff of the Correctional Services Department, which is also responsible for running Hong
Kong's prisons and other correctional institutions.
reimburses the Hong Kong Government approximately one annual expenditure on refugees (HK$ 20 million out of a
60 million in 1984).
The UNHCR
third of its
total of HK$ total of
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