11
事入
Immigration and Tourism
旅務境
遊和
A TOTAL OF 11.9 million people passed through immigration control as they entered or left Hong Kong during 1977. This was 13 per cent more than in 1976, reflecting an improvement in the economic climate.
The Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal was again the busiest control point with 43 per cent of the total. Next was Hong Kong International Airport with 38 per cent followed by Lo Wu, on the Sino-British border, with 18 per cent. Local residents accounted for 56 per cent of all travellers; the remainder were mostly short-term tourists or business visitors.
After balancing immigration against emigration for the year, there was an estimated gain in population from migration of 33,000. Over the same period, there was a natural population increase of about 55,000 as a result of births exceeding deaths.
Immigration
On April 20, the Registration of Persons Department, whose main responsibility is the issue of identity cards, was amalgamated with the Immigration Department. The Director of Immigration was simultaneously appointed Commissioner of Registra- tion. Administration of identity card and travel document services by a single authority will lead to much simplification and, eventually, allow the public to conduct both types of business at one office.
The Immigration Department has a staff of 1,550, of whom 800 are uniformed officers. The work of the department falls into two main streams - controlling people moving in and out of Hong Kong, and providing identity cards and travel documents for local residents.
Immigration Control
Extreme pressure of population has led Hong Kong to operate much tighter immigra- tion controls than most countries. These are designed to ensure that population growth through immigration is kept to a minimum but, at the same time, to facilitate the entry of people who have a positive contribution to make to Hong Kong's economic, social or cultural development.
Computerised records are kept of all people arriving and departing, thus providing the basic data required for effective immigration control as well as a wealth of infor- mation useful to the police and other law enforcement agencies. Large numbers of people attempt to enter Hong Kong unlawfully - often with the aid of forged travel documents and supporting papers. To combat this, the Immigration Department has increased its intelligence and investigatory effort.
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