DRAFT
Mr. HUI:
Sir,
DRAFT SPEECH BY THE HON HIT YIN FAT
IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
on Wednesday 2 December 1987
3rd Version
Mot.ion: "That Section 18 (3) and Parts VIIA and VIIB of the Immigration Ordinance -shall expire on 31 December 1988"
scf.
Mrs. Rita FAN has spoken on the reasons why Section 18 (3) of the Immigration Ordinance is still necessary and on the failure in particular of the British Government to recognize her responsibility to Hong Kong to take the lead in relieving Hong Kong of its growing refugee population. I share
her exasperation. We are all aware that resettlement is not a lasting solution to the refugee problem, but, until a lasting solution that puts a stop to the outflow of refugees from
Vietnam can be found, short of refusing to allow boat people to land in Hong Kong, greater resettlement overseas is the only method we have of controlling the number of refugees in our
camps, reducing the burden on the Hong Kong taxpayer, and
alleviating the misery and uncertainty of the refugees
themselves.
In the financial year 1986-87 the total cost of caring
for Vietnamese refugees in both open and closed centres was
$160.1 million: $29.6 million of this was contributed by the
UNHCR; and $7.8 million of this was contributed by voluntary
1 percent
agencies in Hong Kong: the bulk of it is $122.7 million, was borne by the Hong Kong, taxpayer. with a 54% increase in the
per cent rate of arrival, a 44% decline in resettlement, and a 168 per cent increase in the population remaining in our camps, we must expect the taxpayer's contribution for the year 1987-88 to
exceed that considerably. And if we add to that the cost of
the ex-China Vietnamese illegal immigrants we are probably
talking about a sum of more than $200 million. Caring for Vietnamese boat people must now be one of the fastest growing