M 87
2. The Tung Wah Committee had been entrusted with the care of homeless and friendless refugees in the early part of the year, and various buildings were lent to them for this purpose, including the former Government Civil Hospital, part of the old Victoria Gaol and the building which had formerly been used as the Kowloon Magistracy. By May, 2,648 refugees were being cared for in this way.
3. The Tung Wah Committee were also able to arrange for the repatriation of over 30,000 refugees between July, 1937, and June, 1938. Needless to say, this number represented but a small proportion of the many tens of thousands who sought shelter in these territories.
4. Overcrowding, already one of the most pressing problems confronting the health authorities, was aggravated to the point of danger, and a severe outbreak of cholera was superimposed on the worst epidemic of smallpox in the history of the Colony. The average number of persons on each floor of the typical three-storeyed Chinese house rose from between fifteen and twenty to from thirty to as many as sixty and those who could find no shelter in houses slept in the streets.
5. A police census taken in June, 1938, gave a figure of over 27,000 for street sleepers.
6. To relieve these conditions Government decided to house about 5,000 people in the urban area, and three refugee camps were constructed, one on the Island at North Point, a second at Ma Tau Chung and the third at King's Park, the two latter locations being in Kowloon on the Mainland.
7. The camp at King's Park was intended to take those refugees who had been looked after by the Tung Wah Committee and were awaiting repatriation. The other two were intended primarily for Hong Kong born women and children sleeping in the streets. A second census carried out in October—the cold weather having started—showed that there were still over 15,000 street sleepers.
8. The writer of this Report assisted by a Committee appointed by the Governor was responsible for the administration and health organisation of these urban camps and was solely responsible for the rural camps which had to be hurriedly constructed on a more primitive basis in the last three months of the year.
9. Industrial and educational activities were handed over to a voluntary organisation, the Emergency Refugee Council, which came into being in June, 1938. This body has done particularly valuable work in coordinating the activities of the various refugee relief associations operating in Hong Kong.
10. After the Japanese landed at Bias Bay on October 12th, many thousands of refugees poured across the frontier.
11. A matshed camp was built at Pat Heung to hold 5,000 people, and later on, in November, railway truck camps were opened at Fanling to house the additional refugees who had crossed the frontier following the "mopping up" operations conducted by the Japanese on November 25th. The Fanling camps provided accommodation for 3,000–4,000 refugees.
12. As a result of concerted action by the various committees and organisations dealing with the problem, many of the refugees were persuaded to return to Kwangtung, and by the end of the year only about 4,000 remained in Government camps in the New Territories, apart from those in villages in the New Territories, and about 3,000 in camps in the urban area.
13. Government's main object throughout was to provide food shelter and adequate health services for those who needed them, and great assistance was given by the unremitting efforts of the Emergency Refugee Council and allied organisations. All classes of the community have responded to appeals for help for the refugees in a remarkable way, and several hundreds of thousand dollars have been given to the various funds providing such help.
M 87
-
2. The Tung Wah Committee had been entrusted with the care of homeless and friendless refugees in the early part of the year, and various buildings were lent to them for this purpose, including the former Government Civil Hospital, part of the old Victoria Gaol and the building which had formerly been used as the Kowloon Magistracy. By May, 2,648 refugees were being cared for in this way.
3. The Tung Wah Committee were also able to arrange for the repatriation of over 30,000 refugees between July, 1937, and June, 1938. Needless to say, this number represented but a small proportion of the many tens of thousands who sought shelter in these territories.
4. Overcrowding, already one of the most pressing problems confronting the health authorities, was aggravated to the point of danger, and a severe outbreak of cholera was superimposed on the worst epidemic of smallpox in the history of the Colony. The average number of persons on each floor of the typical three-storeyed Chinese house rose from between fifteen and twenty to from thirty to as many as sixty and those who could find no shelter in houses slept in the streets.
5. A police census taken in June, 1938, gave a figure of over 27,000 for street sleepers.
6. To relieve these conditions Government decided to house about 5,000 people in the urban area, and three refugee camps were constructed, one on the Island at North Point, a second at Ma Tau Chung and the third at King's Park, the two latter locations being in Kowloon on the Mainland.
7. The camp at King's Park was intended to take those refugees who had been looked after by the Tung Wah Committee and were awaiting repatriation. The other two were intended primarily for Hong Kong born women and children sleeping in the streets. A second census carried out in October-the cold weather having started showed that there were still over 15,000 street sleepers.
8. The writer of this Report assisted by a Committee appointed by the Governor was responsible for the administration and health organisation of these urban camps and was solely responsible for the rural camps which had to be hurriedly constructed on a more primitive basis in the last three months of the year.
9. Industrial and educational activities were handed over to a voluntary organisation, the Emergency Refugee Council, which came into being in June, 1938. This body has done particularly valuable work in coordinating the activities of the various refugee relief associations operating in Hong Kong.
10. After the Japanese landed at Bias Bay on October 12th, many thousands of refugees poured across the frontier.
11. A matshed camp was built at Pat Heung to hold 5,000 people, and later on, in November, railway truck camps were opened at Fanling to house the additional refugees who had crossed the frontier following the "mopping up" opera- tions conducted by the Japanese on November 25th. The Fanling camps provided accommodation for 3,000-4,000 refugees.
12. As a result of concerted action by the various committees and organisa- tions dealing with the problem, many of the refugees were persuaded to return to Kwangtung, and by the end of the year only about 4,000 remained in Government camps in the New Territories, apart from those in villages in the New Territories, and about 3,000 in camps in the urban area.
13. Government's main object throughout was to provide food shelter and adequate health services for those who needed them, and great assistance was given by the unremitting efforts of the Emergency Refugee Council and allied organisations. All classes of the community have responded to appeals for help for the refugees in a remarkable way, and several hundreds of thousand dollars have been given to the various funds providing such help.
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