FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1979
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+FOR THE TIME BEING, WE SHALL HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT A VERY REAL STRAIN WILL BE THROWN ON OUR ADMINISTRATIVE AND SOCIAL SERVICES OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, IT WILL BE MOST UNFAIR TO DEMAND OF A COMMUNITY WHICH, AGAINST GREAT ODDS, HAS PULLED ITSELF UP BY ITS OWN EFFORTS IN A UNIQUELY RESOURCELESS SITUATION, TO BEAR A DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THE BURDEN OF THIS REGIONAL PROBLEM INDEFINITELY, MR. HADDON-CAVE POINTED OUT.
AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE POPULATION SURGE HONG KONG HAD EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST 2-1/4 YEARS AS RESULT OF NET IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA AND ELSEWHERE, MR. HADDON-CAVE SAID, THIS HAS MEANT THAT WE HAVE LOST GROUND IN OUR EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF HONG KONG PEOPLE, FOR OUR PLANNING TARGETS ARE BASED ON POPULATION PROJECTIONS WHICH ARE NO LONGER VALID,+
+THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE FIGURES OF NET IMMIGRATION FROM EARLY 1977 TO DATE FOR OUR FUTURE POPULATION GROWTH ARE SELF-EVIDENT: PROJECTIONS BASED ON THE 1976 BY-CENSUS HAD SUGGESTED A POPULATION OF ABOUT 5.2 MILLION BY 1986, IMPLYING, FOR EXAMPLE, A REQUIREMENT FOR LOW-COST PUBLIC HOUSING FOR 1-1/2 MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE 10 YEARS ENDING 1986, AFTER ALLOWING FOR A LARGE NUMBER STILL INADEQUATELY HOUSED.
+A CONTINUATION OF LAST YEAR'S RATE OF NET IMMIGRATION OF 96,000 WOULD RAISE THE POPULATION TO SIX MILLION" YET EVEN THIS PROJECTION COULD BE LOW SHOULD THE PRESENT RATE OF NET IMMIGRATION CONTINUE
+AND THE GREAT UNFAIRNESS OF THIS PROSPECT IS THAT THE RATE OF NATURAL INCREASE HAS BEEN SO SUCCESSFULLY CONTAINED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, MR. HADDON-CAVE POINTED OUT.
HE SAID THAT THE STERN REALITY OF THE BARE STATISTICS OF THE BACKGROUND AGAINST WHICH HONG KONG MUST VIEW THE PRESENT INFLUX OF BOAT PEOPLE FROM VIETNAM, SHOULD OBSCURE NEITHER THE DRAMA AND TRAGEDY OF THE SITUATION, NOR THE SOCIO-POLITICAL TENSIONS THAT ARE BOUND TO ARISE IF RECIPIENT COMMUNITIES FEEL DEPRIVED IF LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE HAVE TO BE MAINTAINED
IN CAMPS INDEFINITELY.
*WE ARE NOT UNMINDFUL OF THE EFFORTS OF THE UNHCR AND THE CONCERN EXPRESSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF COUNTRIES OF POTENTIAL RESETTLEMENT BUT, ON A PESSIMISTIC VIEW. WE COULD HAVE AS MANY AS 70,000 REFUGEES IN CAMPS IN HONG KONG AWAITING RESETTLEMENT BY THE END OF THE SUMMER SEASON, AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION FACE A SIMILAR, THOUGH IN RELATIVE TERMS A LESS SERIOUS, PROBLEM,+ MR. HADDON-CAVE SAID.
HE STRESSED THAT TO SEARCH FOR PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE REGIONAL PROBLEM OF REFUGEES WHICH HAS ASSUMED FRIGHTENING PROPORTIONS+ SHOULD BE A PRIORITY CONCERN OF THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT
BANK.
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