CONFIDENTIAL
BACKGROUND NOTES
IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND REFUGEES
No. 8
Since the establishment of the Communist Government in January in
1950, more than 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 now constitute
over one-third of the population, the Hong Kong Government is obliged to
follow a policy of integration into the community. The efforts to cope,
almost unaided, with the problem of providing housing and education
services and employment etc. to meet their needs, deserve every praise.
however, physical and financial limits to the numbers that can
be absorbed into a small overcrowded territory.
There are,
Status of the immigrants
2. 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 or the Communist Government. Those now seeking entry are either
fleeing from the turmoil of the cultural revolution or they are attracted
to Hong Kong by its relative prosperity and greater economic opportunities.
Immigration controls
The
3. Since 1950 the Hong Kong Government has found it necessary to restrict
entry from the mainland (despite C.P.G. objections on the grounds that
there has existed a traditional right of free access to Hong Kong).
quota for legal immigration from the neighbouring Kwangtung Province is
50 per day. Strict measures are taken against illegal immigration from
China but, because of the Colony's geographical situation, it is impossible
Illegal immigration is now running at about
to maintain complete control.
the rate of 3-4,000 a year.
CONFIDENTIAL
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