OXFAM
樂施會
The government says that while Hong Kong puts people into the closed centres it is other countries which leave them there and which are therefore responsible for the suffering and the waste of human life and energy. Certainly the international community has let Hong Kong and the refugees down, but that does not mean that the government should do
no more.
It should urgently consider setting a limit on the length of time that any refugee spends in a closed centre, and should arrange for refugees who have exceeded that limit or who have done particularly well on educational or vocational training programmes to be transferred to open accommodation.
Even a prisoner in Stanley Prison knows the length of his sentence and has the chance of being released early for good conduct. The refugees, who have committed no crime, do not know how long they will have to stay in prison and can do nothing to advance their release. We reluctantly accept that a period of detention may be unavoidable, but Hong Kong should not keep innocent people in prison indefinitely.
In our last report we suggested that the limit be set at five years.
Having recently revisited all the centres and seen many of the same people still stuck there we feel that five years may be too long. But the precise timing can be discussed what is important is the principle. It seems to us to be critical that refugees are given something to hope for and something to work towards. Individual freedom and 19 the opportunitý for self-improvement are two fundamental principles of our society, but both are denied to the refugees.
Talking to the refugees convinces us that many of them are
If they are totally unprepared for what lies ahead.
resettled overseas they will cause problems (through innocence and ignorance, rather than malice) and resettlement countries will then become even more reluctant to offer places. If the refugees are settled in Hong Kong the problems will be ours - unskilled adults who have forgotten how to work, children who have not been properly educated, families in crisis, people who have lost their initiative, their self-confidence and their sense of independence.
So it is in Hong Kong's interest to do as much as it can to help the refugees now to develop and prepare for their new lives. That means:
* Improving educational standards by enabling local teachers to work in refugee schools, assisting with teacher training, and allowing older children and adults from Kaitak to compete for places in local educational institutions
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