XN000022-1981-03-26 — Page 2

THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1981

NEW ID CARD PLANNED

SIR JACK SQUASHES RUMOURS OF IMMIGRATION POLICY CHANGE

******

THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR JACK CATER, TODAY ANNOUNCED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD SOON PROPOSE THE ISSUE OF A NEW IDENTITY CARD.

AND HE WARNED THAT ANYONE WHO MIGHT NOW CONTEMPLATE OBTAINING A FALSE CARD WOULD NOT ONLY FIND HIMSELF IN TROUBLE, BUT WOULD HAVE WASTED HIS MONEY.

ADDRESSING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE OF THE IMMIGRATION SERVICE, SIR JACK SQUASHED FALSE RUMOURS CURRENT IN GUANGDONG AND MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT THE SLIGHTEST INTENTION OF CHANGING ITS IMMIGRATION POLICY.

+THERE WILL BE NO NEW AMNESTY, HE DECLARED.

+ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WILL NOT GET ID CARDS.

+EMPLOYERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO TAKE ON NEW STAFF WHO DO NOT HAVE ID CARDS.

+THOSE FOOLISH ENOUGH STILL TO COME, WILL BE TRACKED DOWN AND, SOONER OR LATER, WILL BE FOUND AND WILL BE RETURNED,+ HE STRESSED.

IN HIS DISCUSSIONS IN GUANGZHOU EARLIER THIS MONTH, SIR JACK SAID, THE AUTHORITIES HAD ASSURED HIM THAT THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO TAKE STERN MEASURES TO PREVENT ILLEGAL EMIGRATION.

+FOR OUR PART, WE SHALL CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR GUARD UP : WE SHALL MAINTAIN OUR STRENGTH ON THE BORDER, WHERE THE PERMANENT MILITARY STRENGTH IS BEING INCREASED FROM FOUR TO FIVE BATTALIONS, AND AT SEA, WHERE THE EXPANSION OF THE MARINE POLICE IN PARTICULAR IS NOW PUTTING MORE VESSELS AT SEA THAN EVER BEFORE.+

THE MEASURES TAKEN LAST OCTOBER BY OURSELVES AND BY CHINA HAD SO FAR HAD ENCOURAGING RESULTS, HE SAID, NOTING THAT THE LEVEL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION HAD DROPPED SUBSTANTIALLY SINCE THE +REACHED BASE+ POLICY WAS ENDED. LAST SEPTEMBER OVER 400 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WERE BEING ARRESTED DAILY, WHEREAS THE AVERAGE SO FAR THIS YEAR WAS ABOUT 20.

+BUT WE MUST NOT BE COMPLACENT, HE WARNED,

+THE THREAT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS STILL A GRAVE MENACE AND IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR THE WELL-BEING OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT WE, THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, AND THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUE TO MEET IT RESOLUTELY.

AS AN INDICATION OF THE CRITICAL EFFECT OF UNCONTROLLED IMMIGRATION ON OUR SOCIAL PROGRAMMES, SIR JACK NOTED THAT THE THEORETICAL COST OF THE ADDITIONAL SOCIAL EXPENDITURE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE FOR THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO ARRIVED BETWEEN 1978 AND 1980 WAS $3 500 MILLION. BUT IN PRACTICE, HE ADDED, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVIDE THE HOUSING, HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS REQUIRED IN THE TIME, EVEN IF MONEY HAD BEEN NO OBJECT.

WAS