WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1980
IMMIGRATION FIGURE WORRYINGLY HIGH
***
HONG KONG ABSORBED AN ADDITIONAL 91 000 PEOPLE THROUGH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA DURING THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THE YEAR, THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, SAID TODAY.
THE NUMBER WAS ON TOP OF THE 178 000 WHO CAME IN LAST YEAR.
AND IT LOOKS AS IF THIS YEAR'S TOTAL FIGURE WILL BE WORRYINGLY HIGH AND NOT MUCH SHORT OF LAST YEAR'S, SIR MURRAY SAID IN HIS REVIEW OF IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS.
+CLEARLY THE ROOT CAUSE LIES IN THE CURRENT URGE TO REACH HONG KONG, AND THE ONLY LONG-TERM CURE LIES IN DEFLATING THIS URGE AT ITS SOURCE, THAT IS TO SAY IN THE COMMUNES OF GUANGDONG, + SIR MURRAY SAID.
+MEANWHILE OUR UNREMITTING EFFORTS TO INTERCEPT AND RETURN THIS TRAFFIC TO CHINA ARE ESSENTIAL.+
SIR MURRAY SAID THE PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAD GROWN FAST, AND HE CITED FIGURES TO ILLUSTRATE THIS.
ARRESTED
EVADED AND ENTERED
1977
1 800
6 600
1978
8 200
28 000
1979
90 000
102 000
1980
56 100
55 000
(JAN - AUG)
AND WITH THE NUMBER OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ADDED IN, THE EXTRA NUMBERS HONG KONG HAS HAD TO ABSORB FROM IMMIGRATION BECOMES:
31 000 IN 1977- 95 000 IN 1978- 178 000 IN 1979 AND 91 000 FOR THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF 1980.
SIR MURRAY SAID 85 PER CENT OF THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS COMING IN WERE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 15 AND 30. MOST ARE SINGLE AND PROPORTION OF MALE TO FEMALE IS 31.
+THE EDUCATIONAL LEVEL IS USUALLY POOR AND THEY HAVE LITTLE TO OFFER IN SKILLS, HE SAID.
THEIR PRESENCE, HE ADDED, POSES POTENTIAL PROBLEMS FOR LAW AND ORDER THOUGH THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO QUANTIFY. ILLEGAL MOVEMENT ACROSS FRONTIERS INEVITABLY OPERATES WITHIN THE CRIMINAL WORLD.+
SIR MURRAY OUTLINED THE VARIOUS MEASURES, TAKEN LOCALLY TO CONTA IN THE FLOW, INCLUDING DAILY AND NIGHTLY POLICE, ARMY AND NAVY PATROLS AND SOPHISTICATED DETECTION DEVICES, AND GAVE AN INDICATION OF THE DIMENSION OF THE THREAT HONG KONG FACES SHOULD SECURITY EFFORTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE BORDER SLIP.
/HE SAID