1
CONFIDENTIAL
5.
(If asked whether closed camps are not really prisons/run by prison staff.) Hong Kong's refugee camps are
are not run as prisons, nor by prison officers. They are run by staff of the Correctional
Services Dept specially trained to look after refugees.
refugees (through elected representatives) are also directly
involved in the daily running of the camps.
UNHCR have every
access.
The
6.
(If asked under what circumstances we should discontinue the
closed camp policy.) We have always made it clear that the policy is
not intended to be permanent and that if the flow of illegal
departures from Vietnam were to be reduced to a trickle, such
deterrent measures would no longer be necessary. The policy has
been effective in reducing level of new arrivals, but the flow
nevertheless continues. We should be ready to discontinue the
policy whenever circumstances permitted.
THIS IS A COPY THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN
CLOSED UNDER
FOI EXEMPTION NO. 27/1),
CONFIDENTIAL