37
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1988
MOST VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE DID NOT WANT TO STAY IN HONG KONG, HE STRESSED.
"THE TRAGEDY IS THAT DOORS ARE NO LONGER OPEN FOR THEM. THEY
ARE PEOPLE ON A JOURNEY TO NOWHERE.'
IT WAS AGAINST THIS BACKGROUND THAT THE GOVERNMENT INTRODUCED A CHANGE IN POLICY ON JUNE 16 AND SINCE THEN ALL BOAT PEOPLE ARRIVING FROM VIETNAM HAD BEEN CAREFULLY SCREENED.
THOSE WHO WERE IDENTIFIED AS GENUINE REFUGEES COULD REMAIN IN HONG KONG UNTIL THEY WERE RESETTLED OVERSEAS, AND THOSE WHO WERE NOT MUST BE RETURNED TO THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, "AS IS THE CASE WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD", SIR DAVID SAID.
HONG KONG FOLLOWED UNHCR GUIDELINES IN DECIDING REFUGEE STATUS,
IN ADDITION, UNDER A RECENTLY CONCLUDED UNDERSTANDING, UNHCR WAS INVITED TO MONITOR THE PROCEDURES AND TO PROVIDE ADVICE TO PEOPLE WHO WISHED TO APPEAL AGAINST DECISIONS TO REFUSE THEM REFUGEE STATUS.
THE UNHCR ALSO AGREED TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE CARE OF ALL VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG, WHATEVER THEIR STATUS.
THIS WOULD REDUCE THE COST BORNE BY HONG KONG BY SOME $150 MILLION A YEAR.
HONG KONG WOULD CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR MORE GENEROUS FROM RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES, SIR DAVID SAID.
TREATMENT
THERE WERE 15,000 BOAT PEOPLE WHO HAD ARRIVED HERE BEFORE THE MID-JUNE CHANGE OF POLICY IN ADDITION TO THOSE WHO ARRIVED AFTER THAT DATE AND WERE FOUND TO BE GENUINE REFUGEES.
"WHILE WE AWAIT THE RETURN OF ECONOMIC MIGRANTS TO VIETNAM AND THE TRANSFER OF REFUGEES TO ResettlemeNT COUNTRIES,
WE MUST CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SHELTER FOR LARGE NUMBERS OF BOAT PEOPLE, + SIR DAVID SAID.
"WE ARE DOING THIS TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF A GREATLY INCREASED INFLOW.
DIFFICULT
"IT HAS PLACED A HEAVY BURDEN ON OUR FACILITIES GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS WHO DEAL WITH THE BOAT PEOPLE. ALL HAVE RESPONDED MAGNIFICENTLY TO THE CRISIS. H
AND
ON THOSE CONCERNED
SIR DAVID SAID HE WOULD LIKE TO RECORD HIS APPRECIATION OF THE OF THE UNHCR AND THE VOLUNTARY AGENCIES WHO CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE WELFARE OF THESE UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE.
WORK
ON THE LIBERALISATION OF CONDITIONS OF THOSE REFUGEES AND AWAITING RESETTLEMENT AS PART OF THE POLICY JUNE 16, SIR DAVID SAID THIS WOULD BE A GRADUAL PROCESS.
DEFINED AS
CHANGE ON
/"IT WILL