TNAG-0885-FCO40-1095-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 68

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Rong Kong

17 MAY 1979

ore than 6,100. In the first 14 days of May, no fewer than 6,577 refugees arrived in Hong Kong, an average of 470 per day.

Unfortunately, there is every reason to suppose that the number of arrivals will continue to increase over the next few months. If that happens, Hong Kong could well be providing temporary shelter for 70,000 or more refugees from Viet- nam by the autumn. That more or less confirms the figures given by my hon. Friend.

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These figures would be

be worrying enough anywhere, but they represent a particularly acute problem for a territory such as Hong Kong which, with 4-7 mil lion people living in its 400 square miles, is already as my hon. Friend quite rightly explained-one of densely populated places in the world. Finding accommodation in which to tem- porarily house those refugees is an increasingly difficult problem.

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Even more important, the flow of refugees from Vietnam must, as my hon. Friend pointed out, be seen against the background of a very high level of immi- There were over gration from China. 100,000 legal and illegal immigrants from China last year, and at least 60.000 have arrived so far this year. Immigra- tion from China on this scale places enormous strains on Hong Kong's social services, particularly its public housing.

At this point I should like to endorse the remarks of my hon. Friend about what has been achieved in Hong Kong in recent years.

We welcome the great progress that has been made in housing, education, medical and health services and other areas. The sharp increase in immigration has been discussed with the Chinese authorities a number of times. I believe that the Chinese understand the difficulties which this influx causes for Hong Kong. They have said that they will take steps to limit the flow, and I hope that there will soon be a real im- provement.

In these circumstances it is greatly to the credit of the Government of Hong Kong that they have maintained their traditional humanitarian policy of offer- ing temporary shelter to all refugees who arrive in their own boats, or who are picked up at sea by ocean-going vessels for which Hong Kong is the next scheduled port of call.

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(Vietnamese Refugees)

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Turning now to the wider picture, I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that the exodus from Vietnam is a major prob- lem for the region as a whole and that it can be solved only through concerted international action. There are two aspects to the problem: first, to try to speed up the outward movement of refugees to countries of permanent settlement; but also to do everything possible to tackle the problem at source and to bring some order into the departure of people from Vietnam. I shall take the second point first

My hon. Friend referred to Lord Goronwy-Roberts' remarks in another place on 14 February about the role of the Vietnam Government, and I endorse

my hon. Friend's remarks. As my hon. Friend said, there is no party difference in this matter. The Government will take every opportunity to impress on the Viet- namese Government our abhorrence of the policies which have driven so many people to flee that country, often at great risk to their lives.

There can be no doubt that the Viet- namese Government have actively en- couraged and profited from the traffic in boat refugees. Most of them are required to pay, on a fixed tariff, for the right to leave Vietnam and to embark on long voyages in vessels which are overcrowded and often unseaworthy. Information at the Government's disposal about the ex- tent of their involvement has been brought to the attention of the Vietnamese Gov- emment. They have also been urged to collaborate fully with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the interest of achieving an orderly flow of people who wish to leave the country.

We shall also support the Hong Kong Government in their efforts to deter this We hope cruel traffic in human lives. that more countries will follow the ex- ample of Hong Kong in introducing tough penalties for anybody found to be involved in the carriage of refugees for profit.

But I have no illusions that representa- tions to the Vietnamese Government, or deterrent action of the kind taken by the Hong Kong Government, will improve the situation in the short term.

So we must also concentrate on speed. ing up the process of permanent resettle- ment. I have said that this is a regional