TNAG-0892-FCO40-1102-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 50

QUESTION: WOULD YOU COMMENT ON THE REFUGEE CAMPS IN HONG KONG?

LORD CARRINGTON:

YES, I SAW THE TRANSIT CAMP AT THE DOCKYARD, AND THAT COURSE IS BASIC IN A WAY WHICH IS HORRIFYING.

TO

BUT GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES I CAN THINK OF NOTHING ELSE THE

HONG KONG GOVERNMENT CAN DO PROCESS ING PEOPLE, AND THINK THAT WHAT THEY HAVE DONE IS IN ITSELF REMARKABLE IN GIVING

EVERYBODY TWO MEALS A DAY AND DOING THE IR BEST TO PROCESS THEM, HAVING A FIRST AID POST WITH A DOCTOR, AND ALL THE

REST OF IT. HOWEVER APPALLING THIS MAY SEEM, IT IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS YOU CAN GET IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, WITH ALL THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO PASS THROUGH. A THOUSAND A DAY

THEY ARE TRYING TO PASS THROUGH. AND THEN I SAW THE OTHER CAMP; AND THAT OF COURSE IS VERY CROWDED BUT ITS VERY MUCH BETTER THAN THE DOCKYARD. ITS UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE

UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSION FOR REFUGEES, BUT ITS RUN BY THE HONG KONG CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. THEY ARE DOING A PRETTY REMARKABLE JOB TOO. IF I MAY SAY SO, COMING FROM OUTSIDE AND SEEING WHAT'S BEING DONE IN HONG KONG, WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO COME OVER, AND LEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO COME OVER FROM CHINA, YOU CONSIDER THE

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES, I REALLY DO THINK THAT THE HONG KONG

GOVERNMENT DESERVES THE GREATEST POSSIBLE PRAISE FOR WHAT IT'S

DONE, AND THE WAY IT'S DONE IT I.

QUESTION: DO YOU THINK THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT SHOULD GIVE MORE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WHICH ARE URGENTLY NEEDED?

THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG: IF WE NEED THEM WE WILL HAVE THEM.

QUESTION: DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE, CONSIDERING PRESSURES ON HONG KONG, AND BRITAIN'S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HONG

KONG, THAT ALL THE REFUGEES THAT WERE. TAKEN BY BRITAIN

SHOULD COME FROM HONG KONG AND NOT FROM OTHER TERRITORIES?

LORD CARRINGTON: WELL, THAT'S CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY.

I IMAGINE THERE WOULD BE SOME SCHEME ORGANISED BY THE UN HIGH

COMMISSION FOR REFUGEES.

QUESTION: LOOKING AT THE AID QUESTION. AT THE MOMENT THE

HONG KONG GOVERNMENT IS PAYING THE REGULAR AMOUNT FOR

REINFORCEMENTS TO MAN THE BORDER. FROM MY FIGURES THE FOOD

ALONE FOR REFUGEES IS ONE QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS A DAY.

DO YOU SEE ANY DIRECT AID COMING FROM BRITAIN BECAUSE OF HONG

KONG'S HUMANITARIAN APPROACH?

5.

/ THE GOVERNOR