PUBLIC ORDER
To further enhance security along the land border, the government will spend $52.5 million to upgrade the border fence. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 1995. The midnight to 4 a.m. curfew within the Frontier Closed Area, imposed since 1956 to facilitate anti-illegal immigration operations, was lifted from August 1. This has enabled the area's residents to enjoy greater freedom of movement, while the integrity of the border continues to be maintained through restricted access to the Frontier Closed Area.
Vietnamese Migrants
Vietnamese migrants (VMs) who have come to Hong Kong seeking asylum are held in detention centres, with the majority detained at the Whitehead Detention Centre. All VMs are screened for eligibility as refugees and by the end of the year, over 95.4 per cent of the group had been processed. Those screened in have been resettled, or are awaiting resettlement, in other countries. However, the majority do not qualify as refugees, and face return to Vietnam either through the Voluntary Repatriation Scheme run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Orderly Repatriation Programme.
Since an agreement with the Vietnamese authorities in 1991 that those screened out as non-refugees would be repatriated to Vietnam, arrivals have dropped sharply, although 1994 saw 363 arrivals compared to 101 in 1993. Every effort has been made to encourage those VMs who have been screened out to return voluntarily to Vietnam. The UNHCR has arranged flights at regular intervals, and special resettlement programmes have been in operation in Vietnam.
The rate of repatriation, however, slowed throughout 1994. Regular demonstrations were held at the Tai A Chau, High Island and Whitehead detention centres, as inmates showed their resentment towards involuntary repatriation and the screening policy by means of sit-ins and hunger-strikes.
In April, a joint operation conducted by Correctional Services Department (CSD) staff and the police, aimed at moving some 1 400 inmates from Whitehead to the High Island Detention Centre, ended in confrontation when about 400 inmates climbed onto the roofs of their dormitories and refused to move. The use of teargas after repeated warnings to effect clearance, and allegations of assault by the inmates resulted in an official inquiry. The inquiry recommended, among other things, that a team of independent monitors be present in future operations of this type. A police investigation into the assault allegations resulted in charges being brought against three CSD officers.
During the year, the police carried out regular searches of camps for home-made weapons, illegal items and alcohol-brewing equipment. They also provided support in the transportation of VMs between centres, and from the centres to the airport, under the Orderly Repatriation Programme.
In November and December, the government released 125 Vietnamese migrants and 14 ex-China Vietnamese illegal immigrants (ECVIIs) whose continued detention would have been unlawful. The 125 Vietnamese migrants had applied for voluntary repatriation but clearance for their return had not been obtained from the Vietnamese authorities. The government is seeking to resolve the difficulties in securing the return of these volun- teers with the Vietnamese authorities. The 14 ECVIIs were released because the Chinese authorities had not been able to verify their legal status in China and therefore could not
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