↑
of the already severe overcrowding in the territory.
Resettlement.
for
in
The United States is the first preference
the great majority. About 130,000 Vietnamese went there
1975, and since then the United States has accepted a total of
over 580,000 Indo-Chinese.
Other countries have provided places as follows since 1975:
France
Canada
97,000
97,000
FRG
23,000
Britain
19,000
Australia
94,000
Japan
4,000
HONG KONG'S PROBLEMS
The temporary or permanent settlement in its territory of thousands
of refugees poses particularly severe problems for Hong Kong, with
its very limited land area.
For years it has been the goal of
Nearly 10,000 illegal
Chinese wanting to leave the mainland.
immigrants were arrested trying to enter Hong Kong from China in
1984, and all were repatriated in accordance with Government policy,
irrespective of any family connections with local Hong Kong Chinese.
The main influx of Vietnamese boat people began in 1979. Since then
Hong Kong has given temporary asylum to over 100,000 Vietnamese.
The first arrivals were mainly from the South and were
ethnic origin. Since 1980 however, almost all arrivals have been.
ethnic Vietnamese, a large majority of them from the North.
have been granted temporary asylum in Hong Kong.
of Chinese
A11
Despite a declining rate of departures from Vietnam, the refugee
population in Hong Kong has increased since April 1982; those living
in the various kinds of transit centres now number about 11,000."
Half are accommodated in the "closed" centres which were opened in
July 1982 for new arrivals. The aim of this policy is to discourage
Vietnamese from leaving Vietnam for Hong Kong. Refugees living in
such camps are barred from seeking outside employment. Because of
the declining rate of resettlement from Hong Kong, refugees are
having to remain in camps for increasingly long periods.