XN000022-1988-12-16 — Page 41

BALE: A THOUSAND YOUNG CHILDREN, SIR DAVID, FACE A PRETTY BLEAK CHRISTMAS BEHIND BARS AT THE SAN YICK CLOSED CENTRE IN TURN MUN. TWO WEEKS AGO THE MEDIA SHOWED US THE APPALLING HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT EXISTED IN THE CENTRE AND WE SAW THESE PICTURES OF CHILDREN WITH HORRIBLE SKIN SORES AND THERE WAS A HEALTH SURVEY WHICH SHOWED THAT OUT OF 100 CHILDREN, 93 HAD MEDICAL PROBLEMS AND THERE WAS SERIOUS MALNUTRITION AMONGST THE UNDER-5'S OF 18 PER CENT WHICH WAS AN ALARMING FIGURE. SOME OF THE CHILDREN HADN'T BEEN OUTSIDE THE CAMP ONCE AT THAT POINT IN FIVE MONTHS.

BY

NOW THIS WEEK THERE HAS BEEN SOME RELAXATION. THE RULES HAVE BEEN RELAXED. PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO MOVE A BIT MORE FREELY AND, AS IF MAGIC, THE FANS AND THE LIGHTS HAVE BEEN REPAIRED, THE SHOWERS HAVE BEEN IMPROVED, THE WHOLE PLACE HAS BEEN GIVEN A GOOD CLEAN, AND SOME POT PLANTS APPEARED AT THE DOOR BECAUSE THE OMELCO MEMBERS ARE GOING ROUND. SO MY QUESTION IS SIMPLY THIS, WHY DOES IT TAKE MEDIA PRESSURE AND A VISIT BY OMELCO MEMBERS BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT TREATS REFUGEES AS HUMAN BEINGS?

IS AN

GOVERNOR: WELL, LET'S GO BACK TO THE BASIC PROBLEM WHICH 13 THE HUGE INFLUX OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE INTO HONG KONG WHICH APPALLING PROBLEM TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH IN HUMAN TERMS, FIRST OF ALL. BECAUSE THESE ARE PEOPLE, AFTER ALL, WHO ARE NOT TRYING TO COME ΤΟ HONG KONG. NONE OF THEM, OR VERY FEW OF THEM, WANT TO SETTLE IN HONG KONG. THEY ARE TRYING TO GO TO CANADA, UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA. THEY HAVE VERY LITTLE CHANCE INDEED OF EVER GETTING THERE, SO WE HAVE A HUMAN PROBLEM OF HUGE DIMENSIONS.

AND THEN SECONDLY A PRACTICAL PROBLEM FOR HONG KONG, HAVING TO DEAL WITH A SUDDEN INFLUX OF PEOPLE, MANY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE COMING IN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, TO A PLACE WHICH IS VERY OVERCROWDED A9 EVERYBODY HERE KNOWS, WHERE SOME PEOPLE LIVE IN CONDITIONS WHICH ARE FAR FROM IDEAL, VERY CROWDED CONDITIONS IN PARTS OF KOWLOON, PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN LIVING IN SQUATTER HUTS FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.

SO INTO THAT SITUATION WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE COMING FROM OUTSIDE WHO DON'T WISH TO COME TO HONG KONG, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH. THAT IS A PRACTICAL PROBLEM. SAN YICK BUILDING, WHICH I WENT ΤΟ SER MYSELF, IS FAR FROM IDEAL. IT IS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO KEEP PEOPLE OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. IT IS THE RESULT OF HAVING ΤΟ TACKLE IN AN EMERGENCY AND FIND A PLACE TO GIVE SHELTER TO PEOPLE SHORT TERM. THE SOONER WE CAN GET THE PEOPLE IN SAN YICK BUILDING INTO A BETTER THE BETTER, AND THE HAPPIER I SHALL BE. BUT IT IS A PRACTICAL PROBLEM AND YOU CAN'T ACHIEVE IT OVERNIGHT.

CAMP,

MEANWHILE, SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE AND IT DOESN'T SIMPLY REQUIRE OMELCO TO GO AND VIBIT IT. THERE HAS BEEN A LONG-TERM PLAN FOR CHILDREN TO GO OUT TO BE EDUCATED, FOR PEOPLE IN THAT PLACE TO GO OUT AND GET RECREATION, AND FOR A GRADUAL LIBERALISATION FOR THAT CAMP, AS WELL AS OTHER CAMPS, SO THAT PEOPLE CAN GET JOBS OUTSIDE AND CAN MOVE OUTSIDE THE CAMPS. IT IS A GRADUAL PROCESS IN WHICH NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE REACTIONS OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND TAKE THINGS ONE STEP AT A TIME.

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