5. THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAS ALSO ARRANGED FOR MORE THAN 30
CHARTER FLIGHTS FROM HO CHI MINH VILLE TO BRING 4,800 DEPENDENTS
OF LEGAL RESIDENTS TO HONG KONG. SINCE 1975 IT HAS ALSO PERMITTED
8,700 DISPLACED PEOPLE FROM INDO-CHINA TO REMAIN IN HONG KONG
SEMI-COLON NONE OF THESE HAD ANY LEGAL CLAIM TO RESIDENCE IN
HONG KONG. INDEED, IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT 0.26 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION OF THIS VERY OVERCROWDED TERRITORY IS OF RECENT
INDO-CHINESE ORIGIN.
6. THE PROBLEM OF INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG HAS OCCURRED
AT A TIME WHEN THE NUMBERS OF IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA HAVE REACHED RECORD LEVELS. IN 1978 OVER 71,000 LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ENTERED HONG KONG FROM CHINA, COMPARED WITH 26,000 IN 1977, (AN INCREASE OF 170 PER CENT) FURTHERMORE HONG KONG'S POPULATION IN THE SAME YEAR WAS SWOLLEN BY AN ESTIMATED 33,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM
CHINA,
7. AT PRESENT ATTENTION IS FOCUSED, UNDERSTANDABLY, ON THE
M.V. HUEY FONG AND ITS 2,700 REFUGEES. BUT SINCE 23RD DECEMBER 1978 WHEN THE SHIP FIRST ANCHORED OFF HONG KONG A FURTHER 1,064 REFUGEES
FROM VIETNAM HAVE ARRIVED IN HONG KONG IN SMALL BOATS.
8. WHEN PEOPLE, MOTIVATED BY COMPASSION, SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD
ALLOW THOSE ON BOARD THE HUEY FONG TO LAND IN HONG KONG THEY ARE
OVERLOOKING THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY OF SCORES OF SHIPS AND TENS
OF THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES FOLLOWING IN ITS WAKE. THE BURDEN THAT
CROWDED HONG KONG HAS ALREADY SHOULDERED IS GREATER THAN THE CONTRIBUTION OF MANY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
9. THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM MUST BE SEEN AGAINST THE NUMBERS OF ETHNIC CHINESE REMAINING IN VIETNAM (ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 1.5 -
2 MILLION) AND THE FACT THAT OVER 160,000 REFUGEES HAVE ALREADY
ENTERED CHINA FROM VIETNAM. THERE ARE STRONG INDICATIONS THAT
THOSE IN CHINA WOULD LIKE TO BE RESETTLED OVERSEAS AND SOME HAVE
ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO HONG KONG.
10. THE PROBLEM IS EXACERBATED BY THE GROWTH OF THE LUCRATIVE ORGANISED TRAFFIC IN REFUGEES LEAVING VIETNAM BY SHIP.
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