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TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1979
MR. MORGAN SAID HONG KONG'S RECORD IN ACCEPTING AND RESETTLING IMMIGRANTS WAS SECOND TO NONE AND AT THE SAME TIME THERE COULD BE NO DOUBT OF THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY IMMIGRANTS TOWARDS THE GROWTH OF OUR ECONOMY.
HOWEVER, HE SAID, THE LATEST INFLUX OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA, STIMULATED BY THE RECENT RELAXATION OF RESTRICTIONS OF TRAVEL IN CHINA AND THE APPARENT BELIEF AMONG SOME OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE THERE THAT THE STREETS OF HONG KONG ARE PAVED WITH GOLD, +HAS COME AT A TIME WHEN MUCH WAS BEING ACHIEVED IN IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR HONG KONG CITIZENS, PARTICULARLY IN THE FIELDS OF HOUSING, EDUCATION, SOCIAL WELFARE AND RECREATION.+
*AND GOVERNMENT'S AMBITIOUS PROGRAMMES IN THESE FIELDS MUST INEVITABLY BE AFFECTED BY THE RAPID GROWTH IN POPULATION WHICH HAS RESULTED.+
TO ILLUSTRATE THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION THIS YEAR, MR. MORGAN SAID THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED BY THE SECURITY FORCES HAD INCREASED FROM 1 815 IN 1977 TO 8 205 IN 1978, AND 46 559 IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR.
+FROM THESE IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT 6 500 EVADED ARREST AND SETTLED IN HONG KONG IN 1977, 27 400 IN 1978 AND 67 000 IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR,+ HE SAID.
MR. MORGAN ADDED THAT THE DIMENSIONS OF THE PRESENT PROBLEM BECAME IMMEDIATELY APPARENT WHEN THESE FIGURES WERE VIEWED ALONGSIDE THE INCREASED FLOW OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA, WHICH PRODUCED 67 500 IMMIGRANTS IN 1977 AND 45 700 IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR.
+FORTUNATELY THE NUMBER OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRIVING HERE EVERY DAY IS FALLING AND WE HOPE THAT EFFECTIVE ACTION WILL BE TAKEN TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF DAILY ARRIVALS STILL FURTHER, HE SAID.
MR. MORGAN ALSO NOTED THAT A RECENT DEVELOPMENT HAD BEEN THE MARKED INCREASE IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS VIA MACAU.
IN JULY THIS YEAR, 623 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM MACAU WERE ARRESTED, OF WHOM 616 HAD RECENTLY ARRIVED IN MACAU FROM CHINA. THE CORRESPONDING FIGURES SO FAR THIS MONTH (UP TO AUGUST 19) WERE 485 AND 478 RESPECTIVELY.
+THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THIS TRAFFIC IS BEING ORGANISED BY CRIMINAL SYNDICATES AND, AS A RESULT OF RECENT AMENDMENTS TO THE IMMIGRATION ORDINANCE, THESE ORGANISERS ARE NOW LIABLE TO PENALTIES OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND A FINE OF $5 MILLION,+ MR. MORGAN SAID.
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