Vietnamese Refugees
18 DECEMBER 1987
immigrants from China in the past 10 years. That is a 12 per cent. addition to the local population. In addition since 1975, there has been a constant flow of refugees from Vietnam at a completely unpredictable rate. In the first seven months of 1979 no fewer than 66,000 arrived. Since then there have been varying numbers every year. There have been more than 3,000 already this year, an increase of more than a half over the same period last year.
The rate of resettlement has been falling. There has been a 44 per cent. drop this year. Last year a special offer was made by the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, but they now feel that Thailand and Malaysia, which have more Vietnamese refugees than Hong Kong, should take priority in their resettlement policies. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Hong Kong Government to predict the rate of resettlement. There are only five ongoing resettlement programmes--the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Britain- all with stricter criteria in force than previously. The Australians, the Canadians and the Americans have made plain their view that the international responsibility is now primarily British. There are other programmes, but they are limited to accepting refugees for family reunion, and for families rescued by ships at sea flying the flags of, or owned by, traditional maritime countries. The problem is getting worse.
Hong Kong, which has a land area of only 1,000 km, three quarters of it barren hillside, has a population of at least 5.5 million, with a density of more than 5.000 per sq km compared with about 230 people per sq km here, and 22 in the United States of America.
The record of Hong Kong, faced with this serious problem and threat to the stability of its already crowded population, has been quite remarkable. All arrivals by boat from Vietnam have been given asylum, although some ships have been given help to continue their journey if they have opted to do so. The House is aware that in 1982, the Hong Kong Government adopted the closed centre policy, which it has described as a humane deterrent. Refugees are housed in closed centres awaiting resettlement, and are given basic facilities and necessities, but conditions are grossly overcrowded. People are told about the policy when they arrive, and given assistance to move on to other destinations if they so wish. Hong Kong has also provided a place of new settlement as well as temporary asylum, and has accepted the permanent resettlement of about 14,500 Indo-Chinese refugees since 1975. Following the British Government's decision in 1985, the Hong Kong Government have accepted more refugees. The criteria which the Hong Kong Government apply are that refugees should be long-stayers in Hong Kong, that is to say that they have been in Hong Kong since before July 1982; secondly, that they should be ethnic Chinese; thirdly that they should be financially independent, and fourthly, that they should not meet the resettlement criteria of other resettlement countries. Those are strict criteria, and perhaps a relaxation of the first and last of them might be an acceptable way of allowing more resettlement cases at a rate that the Hong Kong Government feel could be accommodated by the colony.
The people and authorities of Hong Kong have given temporary asylum to over 110,000 Vietnamese since 1975. Throughout that period, the voluntary agencies have been doing the most essential and distinguished work. I know that the House will wish to pay tribute to the dedicated individuals who carry out that work.
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The efforts have been remarkable. Not one refugee has been turned away. Hong Kong is the only place in south- east Asia to introduce a policy of local resettlement, an extremely courageous thing to do, given the difficulties of illegal immigrants from China, with which it already has to cope. It is the only place of first asylum in the region to contribute financially towards the cost of its refugees. Since 1979, the cost to the Hong Kong Government of looking after the Vietnamese refugees has been over US $86 million. The voluntary agencies in Hong Kong have spent about US$10 million, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to whom this country is a substantial contributor, has spent about US$40 million. The current cost of caring for refugees is over US$20 million a year, of which the Hong Kong Government is contributing three quarters, the UNHCR about US$4-5 million and the voluntary agencies about US$1 million. By contrast, in the other countries of first asylum in the region, the Governments insist that the UNHCR meets the full cost.
The problem is part of the wider difficultly posed by the many millions of people fleeing from cruel and repressive Communist regimes in several parts of the world. We in this country have accepted a large number of refugees for resettlement. I think that the whole House will accept that because of our constitutional relationship with Hong Kong, we have the unique duty to take the lead in accepting refugees for resettlement here as part of the overall programme. I believe that an important gesture would be for Her Majesty's Government to accept some long-stay refugees with no family links here, and who do not therefore fall within the family reunion principles. I hope that that would be emulated by other countries.
Integral to the solution is persuading other countries, as well as Australia, Canada and the United States, to share in the solution to the problem. Many people, of whom I am one, believe that Hong Kong has never had a fair share of the resettlement places on offer. I know that the UNHCR gives priority to the resettlement of refugees from Hong Kong and has asked many Governments to help. First and foremost must be those in the region- Malaysia, Indonesia. Thailand, the Philippines and perhaps Japan. They have accepted for temporary asylum some 35,000 boat refugees from Vietnam at the moment, which is up by over 1.000 this year. but given the substantial land areas, particularly in the Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos, there must be a for their accepting refugees for permanent resettlement. Of course, there are difficulties delicate ethnic balances, precedence for other retugee groups, and but those countries must contribute to the solution. They will have to do so eventually, and they should do so
case
so on,
now.
The Hong Kong Government's decision to introduce the closed centre policy probably had the effect of reducing the number of refugees leaving Vietnam for Hong Kong, although the numbers were already declining. The decision highlights a dilemma. If a country has a Government who are oppressive and cruel, as in Vietnam and, of course, in Afghanistan at the moment, where over half the population are refugees, can the international community assimilate everybody who wishes international frontiers for a better life? The answer to that question is no.
to
move across
On the other hand, there are people who clearly fulfil specific refugee criteria, and for whom it is our duty to find
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