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IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
less than one in four illegal immigrants was arrested, by 1980, the proportion had risen to more than half. On the Chinese side too, the authorities - using exhortations, warnings, heavier punishments and their security forces - made determined efforts to stem the flood: for every two would-be immigrants who reached the Hong Kong border, about three others were apprehended in China by the Chinese forces.
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But, despite these measures, the immigrants continued to swarm into Hong Kong in tens of thousands, drawn by the lure of higher wages and the knowledge that, if they evaded capture, they were safe. It became increasingly clear to all in Hong Kong during 1980 that as long as there remained a marked disparity between the material standards of life in Hong Kong and those in the neighbouring areas of China, and as long as potential immigrants saw the prospect of being able to enjoy those higher standards unhindered, the pressure to immigrate would continue.
Throughout the 1970s, the government had planned the expansion of social services in line with the anticipated needs of the community; housing, hospitals, schools, welfare facilities and public transport were among the crucial areas covered. But these plans were based on an annual growth in the population of about two per cent. The effect of im- migration from China was to push this figure up to over five per cent by the end of the decade, with damaging effects on the government's programmes. In the employment field too, the addition of 200,000 largely unskilled workers to the labour market-had adverse effects: real wages stayed lower than they otherwise would have and the development of more sophisticated and capital intensive production was retarded. In the event of reces- sion and unemployment, serious social strains could have occurred.
The situation was aggravated by the concurrent steady flow of some 55,000 legal arrivals a year from China, most of whom had been given permission by the Chinese authorities either to visit Hong Kong or to pass through in transit to other countries, but who re- mained in the territory permanently. As a separate but additional problem, 1979 also saw Hong Kong's scarce facilities further strained by a flood of refugees from Vietnam. Throughout the first six months of 1980 the rate of the illegal inflow from China was high, but in both August and September, 1980, the situation grew worse. In each of the two months, an estimated 23,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Hong Kong and nearly half evaded arrest and reached base. The government decided that it could delay further action no longer.
It was considered that, if the incentive of a legalised existence (with no fear of removal, the right to work and free access to all public services) could be eliminated, then Hong Kong would lose a great deal of its magnetism. Accordingly, after the Chinese authorities had been informed and their co-operation sought, the decision was taken. It was publicly announced on October 23 that, in future, all illegal immigrants from China who reached base and were subsequently detected would be treated in the same way as those caught on arrival: they would all be sent back to China. To avoid retrospective action, those already in Hong Kong were allowed three days in which to regularise their presence by applying for an official identity card.
At the same time, it was recognised that this new deterrent, or removal of incentive, would be much less effective if additional steps were not taken to facilitate detection and make it difficult for an illegal immigrant to exist here. Since no illegal immigrant could, from that point of time, be issued with an identity card, legislation was enacted to require all adult residents of Hong Kong to carry their identity cards - or some other acceptable proof of identity at all times. In addition, a ban was imposed on the employment of illegal immigrants by making it obligatory for employers to inspect the identity cards of