XN000022-1996-05-08 — Page 13

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Transfer of VMs from High Island Detention Centre

The Government announced that a group of Vietnamese migrants will be transferred from the High Island Detention Centre today (Wednesday) in preparation for their return to Vietnam under the Orderly Repatriation Programme.

They will be transferred to Victoria Prison for pre-flight documentation and medical checks prior to leaving Hong Kong in five groups over the next few weeks.

The transfer will be observed by independent monitors.

End

549 VMs transferred to Victoria Prison

An operation to transfer 549 Vietnamese Migrants (VM) from High Island Detention Centre to Victoria Prison was carried out smoothly today (Wednesday) by the Correctional Services Department,

The VMs were transferred to Victoria Prison in two convoys of lorries. The group and 49 others will be repatriated to Vietnam in the next three weeks.

The operation began at about dawn and by 8 am the VMs began packing their belongings and boarded the vehicles and by 11.45 am the first convoy of 260 VMs had arrived at Victoria Prison.

By noon all the remaining VMs had packed their belongings and were transferred to Victoria Prison shortly afterwards.

During the transfer operation, there was passive resistance and about 20 people climbed onto the rooftops of the huts where they staged a protest. Three men also climbed onto the barbed wire fence.

All 20 people on the rooflops were removed when CSD officers gained access to the roofs with mobile stairs. One man put up resistance and was slightly hurt during a scuffle with CSD officers.