CONFIDENTIAL
11.
7..
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
Hong Kong Government Policy
1.
The Hong Kong Government provide temporary refuge, pending permanent resettlement elsewhere by UNHCR, for all refugees who reach the territory in their own boats or are brought there after being picked up at sea by vessels for whom Hong Kong is the next scheduled port of call (in view of present overcrowding in Hong Kong, they may no longer automatically accept the first port of call principle)
Numbers of Refugees
2.
On 22 June, there were 57,173 Vietnamese refugees in
Hong Kong awaiting resettlement.* Because of processing delays (partly due to shortage of staff in the UNHCR office) only 14,221
of them were under UNHCR care.
3.
Only 4,209 have
55,484 have arrived in Hong Kong this year.
been sent on by UNHCR to countries of permanent settlement. Action by Hong Kong Government
4.
The Hong Kong Government have introduced tough new laws to deter trafficking in refugees (the trial of the Captain and 11 others associated with the Huey Fong, which brought 3,400
refugees to Hong Kong in January, is now in process). The
Governor, after discussions with Ministers in London, has met
American officials in Washington and the UN Secretary-General in New York, and impressed on them the seriousness of Hong Kong's problems. He is also calling on the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees in Geneva next week.
Illegal Immigration from China
5.
Hong Kong's problems are compounded by a sharp increase in illegal immigrants from China. While only 8,000 were arrested in *As there is no space on shore over five thousand are still in
their boats.
/the
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