3
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1987
RESETTLEMENT OF
MR MOLLISON: YOU HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEES FROM HONG KONG. ARE YOU OR WILL YOU BE HOLDING DISCUSSIONS THAT COULD LEAD TO REPATRIATION, PERHAPS WITH EITHER AMERICAN OR BRITISH INVOLVEMENT?
SIR DAVID: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES AND THAT PROBLEM IS, INDEED, ONE OF THE TOPICS THAT I'VE BEEN DISCUSSING. IT IS A GROWING PROBLEM FOR US IN HONG KONG. WITHOUT CONTINUING THE BARRAGE OF STATISTICS, LET ME JUST SAY THAT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARRIVING IN HONG KONG FROM VIETNAM THIS YEAR WAS UP BY OVER 50 PER CENT ON LAST YEAR. THE NUMBER OF RESETTLEMENT PLACES AVAILABLE WAS DOWN BY JUST UNDER 50 PER CENT. THOSE TWO STATISTICS, I THINK, WILL GIVE YOU SOME FLAVOUR THE PROBLEM.
OF
FACE
FROM
TURN
BUT I MUST ADD ONE OTHER STATISTIC, AND THAT IS WE CONSTANT PRESSURE OF IMMIGRATION FROM THE MAINLAND OF CHINA, PEOPLE WHO HAVE CLOSE CONNECTIONS WITH HONG KONG, AND WE HAVE TO THEM BACK. WE TURN THEM BACK AT A RATE, AT THE MOMENT, OF SOME 70 A DAY. I HOPE THAT GIVES SOME FLAVOUR OF THE POLITICAL PROBLEM THAT WE FACE, WITH DIMINISHING RESETTLEMENT OPPORTUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
WE ARE LOOKING, IN HONG KONG, AS I'M SURE OTHER PLACES OF FIRST ASYLUM ARE, FOR TWO PARTS то A SOLUTION. ONE IS CONTINUING RESETTLEMENT, A CONTINUATION OF THAT ENORMOUS GENEROSITY WHICH THE UNITED STATES, ABOVE ALL, HAS SHOWN. THE UNITED STATES HAS SETTLED SOME 63,000 VIETNAMESE FROM HONG KONG. WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE SECOND PART OF THIS, AND THAT IS A LONG-TIME SOLUTION. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOW, MANY OF THEM, NOT POLITICAL REFUGEES, BUT PEOPLE WHO ARE MOVING FOR ECONOMIC REASONS?
SOME 70 PER CENT OF THE PEOPLE WE HAVE ARRIVING AT THE MOMENT COME FROM NORTH VIETNAM AND ARE ETHNIC VIETNAMESE. THEY DO NOT QUALIFY UNDER THE UNITED STATES RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMME. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THIS CONTINUING PROBLEM? IS IT NOT POSSIBLE, OVER TIME, AND WITH ADEQUATE SAFEGUARDS, TO WORK OUT AN ARRANGEMENT BY WHICH THOSE PEOPLE ARE SENT BACK TO VIETNAM IN THE SAME WAY AS EQUIVALENT PEOPLE WOULD BE SENT BACK TO THEIR OTHER PLACES OF ORIGIN?
SO, I HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING THIS PROBLEM HERE, AS WE HAVE DISCUSSED IT ELSEWHERE, LIKE IN LONDON, AND AS A NUMBER OF THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED EITHER IN RESETTLEMENT OR AS PLACES OF FIRST ASYLUM, HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING IT OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
+
MR MOLLISON: WE HAVE SEVERAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE TRANSITION PERIOD, AND ONE OF THEM HERE IS, THE SINO-BRITISH ACCORD PROVIDES THAT THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COVENANTS WILL CONTINUR TO APPLY TO HONG KONG AFTER 1997. HOW? WILL CHINA RATIFY THESE TREATIES? WILL HONG KONG RESIDENTS BE ABLE TO CHALLENGE LAWS BEFORE THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE?"
/SIR DAVID:
Page 30Page 31