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REFUGEES FROM INDOCHINA
HKD
October 1986
(revised)
Since the Communists seized power in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the mid-1970s, some 1.75 million people have left these countries in order to escape from the oppressive regimes and poor economic conditions there. The steady stream of refugees continues, and by the end of June 1986 there were 155,593 living in transit accommodation in countries of temporary asylum within the region. Thailand has the biggest concentration of registered refugees, with 127,666 people living in camps administered under
er the aegis of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
h (UNHCR); the majority are from Laos (91,435) plus 28,570 Cambodians and 7,661 Vietnamese. Because of her geographical position, Thailand is the favoured destination of those who flee overland rather than by sea; about 800 new refugees arrive there each month. In addition to those accommodated in UNHCR transit centres, over 230,000 Cambodians live in evacuation sites just inside Thailand's border with Cambodia. These people are classified as "displaced persons" rather than as refugees, and are deemed to have fled their homeland not because of a fear of direct persecution, but to escape hardship and economic deprivation, much of it arising from Vietnam's continuing military intervention in
Cambodia.
In 1985, a total of 22,258 Vietnamese reached neighbouring countries by boat, and 12,076 had been registered in UNHCR transit centres in the first half of 1986. Of the 155,593 refugees currently awaiting resettlement, 34,724 are Vietnamese boat people. Hong Kong, with a refugee population in transit centres of 8,218 on 30 June 1986, carries the heaviest burden of temporary or permanent settlement because of its limited land area and high
This paper has been prepared for general briefing purposes. It is not and should not be construed or quoted as an expression of
Government policy.
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