RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 799
OF 02120OZ MARCH 90
INFO PRIORITY SINGAPORE
75
0214.44 MDLIAN 2960
HICP 340 TOP COPY RECEIVED IN REGISTO DIST?
O 5 MAR 1990
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
*GISTRY
PA
Action Taken
YRTELNO 443: INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
1. WE UNDERSTAND FROM THE SINGAPOREAN COMMISSION HERE THAT LATEST
STATISTICS ON IMMIGRATION FROM HONG KONG WERE GIVEN TO THE
SINGAPORE PARLIAMENT BY THE SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE (HOME AFFAIRS), DR LEE BOON YANG, ON 23 FEBRUARY. THESE WERE REPORTED (SLIGHTLY INCORRECTLY) IN THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST OF 24 FEBRUARY.
2. THE CORRECT FIGURES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
A. THERE HAVE BEEN, SO FAR, 20,038 APPLICATIONS UNDER THE NEW SCHEME ANNOUNCED LAST JULY TO GRANT PERMANENT RESIDENCE TO 25,000 SKILLED WORKERS, FOR WHICH THE QUALIFICATION CRITERIA WERE BROADER (I.E. TO LOWER LEVELS OF QUALIFICATION) THAN EXISTING IMMIGRATION SCHEMES.
B. OF THE 20,038 APPLICATIONS, 8,605 HAVE BEEN GRANTED APPROVAL IN PRINCIPLE.
C. HOWEVER, SINCE THE SCHEME WAS ANNOUNCED IN JULY LAST YEAR, A FURTHER 8,086 APPLICANTS WITH TERTIARY EDUCATION OR HIGHER PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS (I.E. NOT/NOT WITHIN THE NEW SCHEME FOR 25,000) HAVE ALSO BEEN APPROVED.
D. SINCE THE NEW SCHEME WAS ANNOUNCED, A TOTAL OF 588 APPLICANTS HAVE SETTLED IN SINGAPORE. HOWEVER, THE COMMISSION HAVE TOLD US THAT OF THESE, ALL BUT 94 (16 PER CENT) WERE ALREADY WORKING IN SINGAPORE BEFORE THE NEW LIBERALISED SCHEME WAS INTRODUCED.
COMMENT
3. THE NEW SCHEME FOR 25,000 SKILLED WORKERS HAS NOT/NOT YET BEEN FULLY TAKEN UP. BUT OTHER EXISTING SCHEMES, INCLUDING THE SCHEME FOR PROFESSIONALS WITH TERTIARY EDUCATION, ARE NOT/NOT INCLUDED IN THE 25,000 LIMIT. IF, AS THE ABOVE FIGURES SUGGEST, HIGHER QUALIFIED PEOPLE ARE APPLYING AND BEING ACCEPTED AT APPROXIMATELY
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