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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The first
flight under the new programme took place on 1 December
1990.
24. On the international front, an informal meeting of the
Steering Committee was held in May in Manila, but no
agreement was reached on the central issue of mandatory
repatriation or on the timing for the next formal Steering Committee meeting.
25. Meanwhile, a new centre at Tai A Chau, with a major
contribution by the British Government of eight million
pounds which will meet half the cost, will be completed in
early 1991. This new centre will provide extra
accommodation facilities and thus make it possible to close
down some existing centres and relieve overcrowding in
others. It is the intention of the Hong Kong Government to
vest management of the new centre in the hands of a
voluntary agency with a view to experimenting with a more
open and liberal approach to camp management.
VI CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
26.
Some important decisions were taken about Hong Kong's future political development in the course of the year. When the Joint Declaration was signed in 1984 there was no elected element of any kind in the legislature. Indirect
elections to functional constituencies were introduced in
1985. Then on 16 February 1990 the Foreign and Commonwealth
Secretary announced the Government's intention to introduce
18 directly elected seats in the legislature in 1991 and at least 20 in 1995. This was a substantially greater step towards full democracy in Hong Kong than had been envisaged in the 1988 White Paper. The detailed arrangements for the
1991 elections were announced on 21 March 1990. The number
of functional constituency seats will be increased from 14
to 21; the number of officials will be reduced from 10 to 3;
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