14
Immigration
IN August the Immigration Department celebrated its second year as a completely independent organization. They have been two years of progress and expansion involving considerable improve- ment in facilities made available to the public for the issue of travel documents, visas and immigration clearance on arrival or departure. A staff training programme has been carried out to ensure that members of the department have a comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of Hong Kong immigration regulations and those of other Commonwealth territories for which the Director of Immigration is the agent.
The demand for travel facilities increases each year as a result of the rise in population and consequently there was a big increase of work in the Chinese section of the department.
Illegal immigration continues and the campaign against this is described in chapter 13. The exceptionally large influx of illegal immigrants in 1962 (estimated at 142,000) included many persons with near relatives who had to remain in China. Now that these people have been absorbed as residents of Hong Kong, many are in a position to ask for their wives and children and aged parents to join them and this is putting an abnormal strain on the Chinese section.
The United States Government continues to accept Chinese from Hong Kong under its parole programme, but the Canadian Government's scheme finished in December. Increases were also registered in applications by Chinese residents who are not British subjects, to travel abroad for holidays or for business purposes and, in the case of younger people, to go to America, Australia and Britain to further their education. To cope with the general increase in business and to release the pressure on headquarters, another sub-office in the crowded North Point area was opened.
In the British section there was a decline in the number of passports issued to Chinese wishing to go to Britain to work. This