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with Portugal which are under strain over Rhodesia, we agreed to a
request by the Portuguese Ambassador that Hong Kong should provide
transit facilities for Portuguese Civilian Nationals in the event of
evacuation. Arrangements to meet this contingency, and to deal with
Portuguese troops and Commonwealth Citizens, were made by the
Hong Kong Government, although, of course, without giving them
publicity. Official evacuation was never ordered but a few thousand
Portuguese nationals (European and Chinese) made their own way to
Hong Kong in the closing stages of the dispute.
E. IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND REFUGEES
1.
Since the establishment of the Communist Government in China in
1950 over a million immigrants or "refugees" have entered Hong Kong, with
the result that the colony is now the most densely populated country
in the world. Densities of 2,000 people to the acre are quite common.
Because other countries have shown that they will not accept substantial
numbers of Chinese immigrants, and because the refugees constitute over
one third of the population, the Hong Kong Government is obliged to
The efforts to cope, follow a policy of integration into the community.
almost unaided, with the problems of providing housing, education,
services and employment etc., to meet their needs, merit every praise.
There are however physical and financial limits to the numbers that can
be absorbed into a small over-crowded territory.
Status of the Immigrants
2.
While many of the persons entering Hong Kong from China in the early
1950's could reasonably be regarded as refugees from the Chinese
Civil War on the Communist Government, very few of those now seeking
entry are political refugees. They are attracted to Hong Kong by the
relative prosperity and greater economic opportunities, just as their
forefathers have been throughout the history of the colony.
3. Since 1950 the Hong Kong Government has found it necessary to
restrict entry from the mainland (despite G.P.G. objections on the grounds
that there has existed a traditional right of free access to Hong Kong).
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