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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1978
SECRETARY FOR SECURITY SPEAKS ON REFUGEE PROBLEM
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THE SECRETARY FOR SECURITY, THE HON. LEWIS DAVIES, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY THAT IT WOULD NOT BE REALISTIC AT PRESENT TO IMPOSE A FIXED LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES HERE AT ANY ONE TIME, ALTHOUGH HONG KONG CERTAINLY IS NOT ABLE TO COPE WITH MANY MORE REFUGEES.
SPEAKING AT THE RESUMED POLICY DEBATE, MR. DAVIES DESCRIBED THE REFUGEE PROBLEM AS A FAST MOVING SCENE+, WITH SOME DISTURBING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT IS IN CONSTANT DIALOGUE WITH THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR).
HE POINTED OUT THAT THE AGREEMENT AT PRESENT IS THAT HONG KONG ALLOWS VIETNAMESE REFUGEES TO LAND HERE AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL EFFORT AND AGAINST A GUARANTEE BY THE UNHCR TO FIND THEM PERMANENT HOMES ELSEWHERE.
+WE ACCEPT SUCH PERSONS BOTH IN OVERSEAS SHIPS WHICH HAVE RESCUED THEM, AND IN WHICH HONG KONG IS THE FIRST PORT OF CALL AS WELL AS IN CASES WHERE REFUGEES ARRIVE HERE DIRECT FROM VIETNAM
IN SMALLER LESS SEAWORTHY VESSELS, HE SAID.
+THE UNHCR CARE FOR THESE PEOPLE WHILST THEY ARE HERE AND WE ARE MOST GRATEFUL TO THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR DOING SO,+ HE ADDED.
ON THE WORK OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, MR. DAVIES SAID THE NUMBER OF CASES PRESENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION IS HIGHER THAN ANY TIME DURING THE LAST 12 MONTHS AND IS ABOUT EQUAL TO THE HIGHEST CASE-LOAD OF THE PAST TWO YEARS.
MR. DAVIES POINTED OUT THAT PRESENT INVESTIGATIONS INCREASINGLY TEND TO BE CONCERNED WITH THE 'SATISFIED CUSTOMER' TYPE OF CORRUPTION AND THESE ARE LESS DRAMATIC, AND THEREFORE LESS NEWSWORTHY, THAN THOSE DEALING WITH SYNDICATED CORRUPTION.
+THESE CASES ARE COMPLEX AND COMPLICATED AND THEY FREQUENTLY PRESENT FAR GREATER DIFFICULTIES FOR THE ICAC INVESTIGATORS THAN DO CASES IN OTHER CATEGORIES, HE SAID.
MR. DAVIES ADDED THAT THE COMMISSION'S PREVENTION AND EDUCATION ARMS CONTINUE TO LENGTHEN AND EXPAND. +AGAIN, THEY ARE NOT THE SORT OF ACTIVITIES WHICH ATTRACT THE ATTENTIONS OF THE MEDIA VERY OFTEN.+
HE SAID: +EVEN SO, MEMBERS CAN BE ASSURED THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO SLACKENING OF IMPETUS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: THE ICAC REMAINS, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE, A MOST POTENT FORCE.+
/TURNING
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