1989-06-15 12:52 SECURITY BRANCH
DRAFT
852 5 868 5074
P.03
Since the start of the year over 19,000
Vietnamese boat people have arrived in Hong Kong. All
have been granted first asylum. Indeed, no Vietnamese
asylum seeker has ever been turned away from Hong Kong.
This rate of arrivals has stretched the Hong
Kong Government's accommodation capacity to the limit.
Currently more than 300 people are arriving each day
and it is simply impossible to provide them all with
safe and secure accommodation immediately Such accommo-
dation is under construction - Hong Kong is prone to
typhoons and the accommodation must be constructed to
meet local safety standards but it will take time to
complete. At the present rate of arrivals Hong Kong
needs a new camp for Vietnamese boat people every two
weeks. I think you will understand that in such circum-
stances the Hong Kong Government has had to resort to
accommodation options which fall short of the normal
acceptable standards.
PROT