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"From October onwards, we will progressively step up the pace of the Orderly Repatriation Programme, from the current rate of 600 to 700 per month to about 1,000 per month.
"We hope that there would be a corresponding increase in the rate of voluntary repatriation. If we are able to maintain this momentum, we should be able to clear the camps by July 1, 1997," he said.
However, difficulties still lie ahead, Mr Lai said. "We will continue to need the co-operation of the Vietnamese Government in clearing the 4,000 VMs not yet cleared for return to Vietnam, and to crack down on illegal new arrivals.
"The United Kingdom Government are, once again, assisting us to negotiate with the Vietnamese Government for ways to speed up clearances.
"We still need the UNHCR to continue their assistance programmes for Vietnamese in Hong Kong, including playing a full part in the Voluntary Repatriation Programme.
"We still need the understanding of the local community, to enable us to complete this humanitarian undertaking. We will need the assistance of the international community, in resettling the 1,300 screened-in refugees who are still in Hong Kong," he said.
"These represent our immediate challenge, and one which the Government are determined to face up to with vigour," he added.
End
Need to monitor child-related legislation acknowledged
The Government has acknowledged the need to continue to monitor and improve child-related legislation and services but is of the view that the current framework serves Hong Kong well, Crown Solicitor, Mr Ian Wingfield, told the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva,
Mr Wingfield, leader of the Hong Kong Government team forming part of the British delegation, was responding a suggestion by a member of the Committee that an independent monitoring body should be set up to oversee the implementation of child policies.