G.F. 326
CONFIDENTIAL # #
Illegal Immigration
Background
Illegal immigration from China has been a serious problem for many years. Prior to October 1980, immigrants entering Hong Kong from China illegally were allowed to stay if they reached the urban area without being captured by the security forces. In 1980 alone, 64,000 illegal immigrants
entered Hong Kong under this "reached based" policy; a
further 82,000 were caught in the New Territories and sent
back to China. On 23 October 1980 the reached base policy
was discontinued. From then on, all illegal immigrants who
were discovered by the security forces were sent back.
1982, nearly 8,700 were captured at the border and 2,500
elsewhere. By 1983, the number caught on entry had fallen to
just under 4,100 and a further 3,000 evaders (those not
caught at or near the border) were arrested or surrendered.
In
Recent Trend
The figures for 1984, 1985, 1986 and the first
2.
half of 1987 are
-
1987
Arrested on entry
1984
9,635
1985
12,616
1986
16,802
-
(1.1 30.6)
10,668
Evaders arrested
3,090
3,394
3,725
1,973
or surrendered
3.
There are regular seasonal variations in the flow
of illegal immigrants into Hong Kong. The peak period is around October after the harvest is gathered in neighbouring provinces in China.
4.
The figures show a steep increase in attempted
illegal immigration so far in 1987. However, the evader
rate has remained reasonably stable as a proportion of total arrest. This indicates that the vast majority are being caught and sent back quickly.
/cont'd.
CONFIDENTIAL # 3