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Orderly repatriation of VMs
Following is a question by the Hon Cheng Yiu-tong and a written reply by the acting Secretary for Security, Mrs Carrie Yau, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
As a result of the implementation of the policy of orderly repatriation of Vietnamese migrants (VMs) by the Government, the number of VMs stranded in the territory has been decreasing and Vietnamese detention centres will be closed down gradually. This will have an impact on the staff of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) responsible for taking charge of these VMs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
Reply:
(a)
(b)
(c)
Mr President,
(a)
of the number of CSD staff presently serving in the Vietnamese Unit,
what arrangements will be made by CSD for the staff of the Vietnamese Unit upon the closing down of all Vietnamese detention centres; whether these staff can be regarded as regular staff, and if so, how many have been regarded as regular staff to date, and
whether the existing staff of the Vietnamese Unit who wish to be regraded as regular staff are required to re-apply and undergo the same recruitment process as other new applicants; if so, what are the reasons for such an arrangement, and whether the Government will revise the existing arrangement so as to facilitate the regrading of these staff as regular staff?
At present, the CSD has a total strength of 903 staff serving in the Vietnamese Migrants Division. The Division comprises 614 regular disciplined staff, 4 Common Grades staff, 42 General Grades staff, 226 VM staff (employed specifically to man Vietnamese Migrant Detention Centres) and 17 technical grades staff.