IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
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China is the main source of people coming to Hong Kong for settlement. After reaching a peak of 77,000 people in 1973, the inflow dropped to 27,500 during 1976. The total for 1977 was estimated at about 34,000. During 1977, 1,779 illegal immi- grants were detected and repatriated to China, and 154 to Taiwan and 525 to Macau. The policy of deporting aliens convicted of criminal activities continued during the year and the Governor in Council made 79 deportation orders.
The plight of Hong Kong residents and dependants in Vietnam led to the creation of a special unit to handle all aspects of the re-unification of families in Hong Kong. By the end of the year, the unit had received 34,000 applications to enter the territory. Priority was given to those with close links with Hong Kong, such as wives joining husbands or elderly parents joining grown-up children. The task was complicated by widespread forgeries of Vietnamese documents.
Because scheduled air services between Hong Kong and Vietnam remain suspended, the Immigration Department organised 22 charter flights from Ho Chi Minh City. Immigration officers travelled on these flights and were able to resolve many problems with the Vietnamese authorities and British Embassy staff. By the end of the year, 200 Hong Kong residents and 3,242 dependants had been carried on these special flights. Fares were paid in advance by local sponsors.
Hong Kong continued to offer temporary sanctuary to people escaping from Vietnam by sea. They numbered 567 rescued at sea by ocean-going vessels bound for Hong Kong and 434 who arrived directly from Vietnam in small craft. Close liaison was maintained with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Inter-Governmental Committee for European Migration, which looked after the refugees during their stay in Hong Kong and arranged their onward journeys, in most cases to the United States.
Personal Documentation
The Immigration Department handles about two million document applications every year. Many of these relate to Hong Kong Identity Cards, possession of which is a legal requirement for most residents over the age of 11. But the greatest number of applications relate to Hong Kong British passports and other travel documents: about per cent all adults in Hong Kong hold valid travel documents – and use them. The Immigration Department devotes a great deal of effort to ensure the integrity of Hong Kong travel documents because this affects the ease with which residents can travel overseas.
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One problem that Hong Kong shares with most other countries is the substitution of photographs in travel documents. In an attempt to prevent this, Hong Kong is pioneering the use of a new technology by which photographs are engraved on to special paper instead of affixed by adhesive. Trials have started on Hong Kong Certi- ficates of Identity. If these prove successful, it is hoped to extend photo-engraving to other important documents.
Tourism
Hong Kong received 1.75 million visitors during 1977 – a 12.6 per cent increase over 1976. Tourism was once again a major source of foreign exchange earnings, with revenue from the tourism industry amounting to about $4.2 billion.