immigrants.
13. There is an almost equally serious problem with illegal
In an effort to control the numbers of people seeking to enter Hong Kong without Chinese exit permits, it was agreed with the Chinese authorities in 1974 that Hong Kong would return all illegal immigrants who were caught at the border. Any who succeeded in reaching the urban areas, however, are allowed to remain, and it is estimated that over 30,000 entered Hong Kong in this way during 1978. Although the repatriation policy is applied as humanely as possible, and there is no evidence that those who are repatriated are harshly treated, the policy remains a sensitive issue and makes it difficult therefore for the Hong Kong Government to adopt a libera policy towards the Vietnamese refugees.
14.
A new dimension has been added with the arrival in Hong Kong in recent months of several boat loads of people of Vietnamese origin who appear to have gone first to China and remained there for some time before moving on to Hong Kong. Since there is strong evidence that many of them had been accepted for resettlement in China, the Hong Kong Government regard them as illegal immigrants, and have tried to send them back to China. The Chinese, however, have so far declined to accept them, though consultations on the problem are continuing.
British financial assistance for refugees in Indo-China
15.
In 1974/75 the Government gave £2 million in relief aid for Indo-China of which £400,000 went to UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In 1977, the Government gave £750,000 for the UNHCR programme of assistance for refugees in Thailand and other South-East Asian countries and, in 1978, we pledged over £2 million for this
same programme.
/16. For
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