HKK 341/1 Rishi
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
13 JUL 1978
DESK OFFICER INDEX
PA
1.14ni
REGIS Action
ท่า
HKGD
89.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(82)
London SW1A 2AH
12 July 1978
Thank you for your letter of 29 June, enclosing Mr Taylor's letter about the problem of people who leave the communist countries of Asia to go to Hong Kong or Brunei.
A distinction must be made between refugees from the Indo-Chinese countries and people who try to cross illegally from China into Hong Kong. Very few of the latter can properly be described as refugees in the normally accepted sense of people fleeing from persecution. Mostly they come to
Hong Kong simply because they are attracted by the prospect of a higher material standard of living.
The population of Hong Kong has increased seven-fold since the end of the war, mainly through immigration from China. It is now one of the most densely populated places in the world. In the early 70's, immigrants, both legal and illegal, were arriving at such a rate that the social services in Hong Kong were coming under severe strain, placing in jeopardy the determined efforts being made by the Hong Kong Government to improve the quality of life for all inhabitants of the Territory.
Regretfully therefore, the Government decided in November 1974 to reintroduce the policy, suspended since 1967, of returning illegal immigrants to China. The policy only applies to those caught making the crossing: any who evade detection and succeed in reaching the urban areas are allowed to stay. Also, each case is considered on its merits. Where there are strong humanitarian reasons against sending a particular individual back to China, the repatriation policy is not enforced.
As a result of this change of policy, the estimated number of illegal immigrants entering Hong Kong has dropped from about 30,000 in 1973 to about 5,000 per year in recent years. Since the policy of repatriation was re-introduced in November 1974, a total of 4,792 would-be illegal immigrants
have been returned to China.
The Rt Hon Jeremy Thorpe MP
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