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Immigration Act of 1990 provides for the issue of immigrant
visas to Hong Kong people, while allowing recipients to
defer their settlement in the United States for a number of
years.
18.
There are indications that former Hong Kong residents
who have acquired the right of abode overseas are returning to Hong Kong in increasing numbers. This trend is likely to accelerate given the slowdown of economic growth of many of
the destination countries. Thus although the level of departures is expected to remain high in the coming year, these recent developments provide some grounds for cautious
optimism.
V.
REFUGEES AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM VIETNAM
19. There is a continuing influx of Vietnamese into Hong
Kong. Although almost all of those arriving still hope to
settle in the United States, most of them are not refugees
in the accepted international definition of the term, nor
have they crossed the open seas in small boats to get to
Hong Kong. This is largely because it has become easier and
simpler in recent months to travel by road or rail through
Vietnam and China and enter Hong Kong by boat across the Pearl River estuary. The cornerstone of our policy in
dealing with this problem continues to be full
implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Action which was
agreed internationally in the Geneva Conference of June
1989. The Plan provided for the maintenance of first
asylum, the screening of the new arrivals to determine their
status, the resettlement of those found to be refugees and the repatriation of all those found not to be refugees to
their homes in Vietnam.
20. In 1990, following efforts made in 1989 to encourage
departures and to discourage new arrivals, there was a
sharp drop in arrivals and a steady flow of departures
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