LAW, ORDER AND RECORDS
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various aspects of police work in the Colony. The Senior Super- intendent of the Traffic Branch visited Manila in August to attend a United Nations Road Safety Conference.
IMMIGRATION
On 4th August 1961 a new Immigration Service came into being, and responsibility for the control of immigration, previously vested in the Commissioner of Police, passed to the Director of Immigra- tion. For some time past the need for re-organization in this complex and highly important field was apparent, and it was felt that the degree of specialization required could best be achieved by the creation of a separate service, working under the full-time direction of its own departmental head.
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The new Immigration Department settled down quickly. By the end of the year most of the staff had been recruited, and the majority of the Police officers who had been engaged on immigra- tion duties when the change-over took place were able to return to the Police Force.
The total recorded movement in and out of the Colony during 1961 was 2,449,953, a decrease of 29,466 from the figure for 1960. Air passenger traffic involved a total of 458,428 movements for the year (excluding passengers in direct transit) showing an increase of 60.71% since 1958. The majority of tourists still come from the United States. Close contact is maintained with the Hong Kong Tourist Association for the accurate co-ordination of statistical information on tourist traffic and trends.
The main lines of movement are between Hong Kong and China and between Hong Kong and Macau. It had been apparent for some time that the unrestricted entry of persons in possession of Macau identity cards was enabling a small but steady flow of fresh immigrants to reach the Colony. About the middle of the year a Permit Office was opened in the British Consulate in Macau, which, in August, began to issue travel permits restricted to bona fide residents of Macau not in possession of normal travel documents. By the end of the year these measures had reduced entirely the overt balance of immigration from Macau, but there were indications that pressure of entry by clandestine routes had increased con- siderably and close attention was being given to organizations attempting to arrange entry by illegal means.