HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -5 July 1989
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Britain should talk straight to Europe that it has to offer the right of abode to Hong Kong people. It should also stop creating confusion about the numbers by continually putting them in the context of the United Kingdom. Even if all who were given the right were to exercise it, the number would be much smaller when looked at in the context of the population of Europe and that is really what the issue is all about.
Sir, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MRS. FAN: Sir, the Foreign Affairs Committee's recommendations on Vietnamese boat people are welcomed in Hong Kong because it recognizes the inevitability of the screening policy in the face of declining level of acceptance by resettlement countries coupled with the massive influx of boat people, and because it accepted that the logical consequence of a screening programme is the repatriation of those screened out as non-refugees. It went on to propose that assistance should be given to allow returning boat people to settle down in Vietnam and that the Vietnam authorities must deal with them in a humane way. The latter has always been the position of OMELCO, and the former proposal, which I take to mean financial assistance given to returnees by the British Government for reintegration purposes, is reasonable and responsible. The committee had the benefit of the evidence of Sir Geoffrey HOWE after the Geneva conference, and rightly pointed out that the conference may have solved the Vietnamese refugee problem, but not the Vietnamese boat people problem. We agree.
Indeed the problem of boat people had escalated since the committee took evidence in Hong Kong in April. During May and June, the monthly arrival exceeds 9 000. No reprieve is in sight for July and August, the popular season for boat people to come into Hong Kong waters. The Geneva conference's failure to deal with Vietnamese boat people realistically is a disappointment to us, although you, Sir, and other members of the British delegation led by Sir Geoffrey HOWE, had put in tremendous effort to draw attention to the Hong Kong predicament and seek to persuade the Americans and the Vietnamese. I would like to place on record our appreciation of the British delegation, and you, Sir, in particular. I shall not repeat what I have said in this Council on 17 May 1989 when we debated the problem of Vietnamese boat people, but I do wish to associate myself with the recommendation of the Foreign Affairs Committee with regard to the United States and People's Republic of China.
Every one in this Chamber is fully aware of the seriousness of the boat people problem, and the need to implement repatriation in large numbers urgently in order to reverse the flow. Some of my colleagues will speak on the community's frustration and demand for more drastic measures. I only wish to reiterate that the problem of Vietnamese boat people is a matter of foreign affairs, and as such, the problem rests squarely in the court of the British Government. Hong Kong has been upholding British honour over the past decade by abiding by the policy of first asylum faithfully even under the most adverse conditions. Hong Kong's taxpayers had spent over $2.4 billion on this. Hong Kong had been the victim of irresponsible and ignorant criticisms. The daily life of many residents has been disrupted. With a population