OXFAM
樂施會
UPDATE: APRIL 1986 NOVEMBER 1987
This year,
for the first time since 1979, the number of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong has significantly increased. From 8,039 at the end of 1986 it had climbed to 9,411 by November 1, a jump of 17 per cent.
The situation in the three main closed centres has deteriorated since April 1986, when Oxfam Hong Kong produced its first report:
Centre
Apr 1 1986
Nov 1
1987
Percentage
Increase
Hei Ling Chau
1,513
2,901
92%
Chi Ma Wan
1,273
1,458
14.5%
Tuen Mun
933
1,765
89%
TOTAL
3,719
6,124
65%
The only good news is that the number of refugees in open accommodation has fallen substantially. In April 1986 there were two open camps, with 2,146 refugees at Jubilee and 2,055 at Kaitak, giving a total of 4,201. Today there is just one open camp at Kaitak, and it has a population of 3,020.
Not only have many more refugees arrived in Hong Kong this year but far fewer have left just 1,915 in the first ten months, compared with 3,816 in the whole of last year.
The short-term outlook seemed relatively encouraging in April 1986 but today it is bleak. Vietnamese to whom we have spoken say there are still many people in Vietnam who want to leave, and a Hong Kong government spokesman described resettlement prospects for 1988 as "an absolute disaster area. 11
So things will get worse before they get better.
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