OXFAM
WHAT HONG KONG CAN DO
樂施會
On January 1 1986 there were 9,443 Vietnamese Refugees in Hong Kong. By December 1, that figure had fallen to 8, 047 a drop of 15 per cent.
In the first 11 months of the year 3,734 Vietnamese Refugees left Hong Kong to be resettled overseas. In the same period 2,070 new refugees arrived here and were admitted to closed centres.
The situation is improving. The number of refugees here now is relatively small and is falling. The number of new arrivals, though higher than hoped, is not large enough to cause serious concern.
This is clearly not an emergency, and there is no need for emergency measures. We believe Hong Kong should continue its humanitarian policy of allowing the boat people to come ashore and live in segregated communities, pending resettlement.
The Vietnamese refugee problem in Hong Kong is now clearly a long-term one. Progress is likely to be steady but slow, and at the end of the day some refugees will be left behind. No country will accept them and they will have to be absorbed into our community.
Hong Kong therefore has an obvious self-interest in making sure that the closed camps produce hard-working, well-educated men and women, who will eventually become responsible citizens - whether of Hong Kong or another country. If we allow refugees to stagnate we reduce their chances of acceptance and integration anywhere.
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Oxfam Hong Kong's report 'How Hong Kong Cares for Vietnamese Refugees made a number of recommendations for improving camp conditions. Chief amongst these were the need to improve educational and training facilities, and to preserve and strengthen the family structure.
Without listing all the recommendations again, we believe that much more could and should be done within the closed camp system to prepare the refugees for life after they leave the camps.
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