CONFIDENTIAL
that of illegal immigrants from China, with
family, cultural and ethnic
financial and other resources
their expense.
ties.
whom they have closer
They are critical of the
allocated to Vietname se refugees
at
(d)
8.
the only me asure that
The closed camp policy is
the Hong Kong
Government have been able to implement to deter Vietnamese from
travelling to Hong Kong. Although it by no me ans provides a
complete answer το
the problem (refugees continue to arrive), and
has itself created new problems, the Hong Kong Government consider
that the advantages of the policy decisively outweigh the
disadvantages and that this policy of deterrence must continue.
9. The Hong Kong Government believes that no lasting solution will
be found until the flow of refugees from Vietnam is stopped. Until
some means i s found to do this, the Hong Kong Government must
continue to rely on the understanding reached at the 1979 Geneva
Conference that refugees should be resettled internationally from
countries of first asylum.
IV PROBLEMS OVER RESETTLEMENT
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR
....40 YEARS UNDER FOI EXEMPTION No... 27(1)_______
definition
race.
of
After
10. Of the 58,543 Vietnamese who arrived in Hong Kong in the first
half of 1979, 84% were ethnic Chinese. They were considered by
resettlement countries to fall under the accepted
"refugees"* through
through their
their persecution for reasons of
1979 however the proportion of ethnic Chinese arriving in Hong Kong
dropped to 2-3%. Initially most
of the ethnic Vietname se arriving
from South Vietnam; they were readily accepted by
refugees, on grounds of political persecution.
Between 1980 and 1983 however the proportion of Northerners steadily
in Hong Kong were
Western countries
as
CONFIDENTIAL