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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
We have continuing international
less than 500 from Hong Kong.
commitments to resettle family reunion and ship rescue cases.
III TREATMENT OF THE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
OPEN AND CLOSED CENTRES
5. 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 were 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 were
able to move
employment.
freely in and out of the centres, and to seek outside
(Over 90% of adult heads of families and single adults
in the open centres are employed).
6.
Initially the rate of resettlement in Western countries in
response to the crisis was high; in 1979 the average monthly rate of
resettlement from Hong Kong was 2,000; 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 a1m
of this policy is to deter would-be refugees from setting out
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
from
The UNHCR
Services Department, which is also responsible for running Hong
Kong's prisons and other correctional institutions.
reimburses the Hong Kong Government approximately one third of its
annual expenditure on refugees (HK$ 20 million out of a total of HK$
60 million in 1984).
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