TNAG-0794-FCO40-998-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1978 — Page 126

CONFIDENTIAL

B. 5,894 BOAT REFUGEES HAD BEEN SETTLED ELSEWHERE AFTER BEING

TEMPORARILY LANDED IN HONG KONG : AND

C. 3,966 BOAT REFUGEES REMAIN HERE AWAITING RESETTLEMENT.

THIS GIVES A COMBINED TOTAL OF 21,847 (OF WHICH 55 PERCENT SETTLED IN HONG KONG, 27 PERCENT BOAT REFUGEES RESETTLED ELSEWHERE AND 18 PERCENT BOAT REFUGEES AWAITING RESETTLEMENT),

5. WE HOPE THAT THE IMPRESSION WAS NOT GIVEN THAT THE FIGURES USED FOR LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA REFER TO A LONG TERM PATTERN. IN FACT, THE PRESENT EXTREMELY HIGH LEVELS HAVE BEEN REACHED FOLLOWING A STEADY BUILD-UP THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THE PRECISE NOVEMBER FIGURES (CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN THOSE FOR OCTOBER) WERE THAT 9,106 PEOPLE ENTERED LEGALLY FROM CHINA WITHOUT VISAS FOR AN ONWARD DESTINATION AND 2019 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

WERE ARRESTED AND REPATRIATED.

6. THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS REMAINING IN HONG KONG CAN ONLY BE CALCULATED ON THE BASIS OF A VERY ROUGH ASSUMPTION OF 4 EVADERS FOR EVERY PERSON CAUGHT. WE DO NOT NORMALLY PUBLISH ANY ESTIMATES OF EVADERS BUT DO INCLUDE THEM IN OVERALL ESTIMATES

OF IMMIGRATION FROM ALL SOURCES (EG MY TELNO 1408 PARA -3).

FCO PASS SAVING HANOI.

REPEATED AS REQUESTED]

PS/LORD GORONum. Roberts

MACLEHOSE

Files

HKYGD

PS/PUS

UND

FIL CORTAZZI

SEAD

MA LEAHY

FED

MR. MURALAY

IPD

NEWS.D

Copies To:

Hong Kong Gov T

Office

LONDON

2.9

CONFIDENTIAL