100,000 have been resettled abroad. The number of boat
people in Hong Kong had been steadily diminishing until 1987, when a new exodus began. In 1988, 18,000 boat people arrived in Hong Kong: the total population in the
camps is now about 25,000. That has created a major political problem in Hong Kong: it is a source of deep and growing concern amongst Hong Kong people and there is
much resentment over the marked contrast between the policy of giving asylum to all boat people and the prompt repatriation of all illegal immigrants from China: the boat people problem is widely seen in Hong Kong as an acid test of Britain's responsibility towards the territory. We are helping the Hong Kong authorities to tackle it by giving our full support of their policy of screening and repatriation introduced in June 1988; by our talks with the Vietnamese on repatriation of those who are screened out as non refugees; and by our initiative to stimulate a new international resettlement effort. We are publicly committed to doing all we can to solve the problem before 1997 and are coming under increasing pressure from Hong Kong people to demonstrate our determination and ability to do so. The forthcoming International Conference on Indo-Chinese refugees (likely to be held in June) should provide a useful opportunity to make progress on both repatriation and resettlement. It will enable us to emphasise the need for a solution at an international level, but Hong Kong and the international community will expect Britain to take a lead in shouldering its share of the responsibility including doing more on resettlement. Failure to do so will seriously damage our credibility in the territory.