TNAG-0894-FCO40-1104-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 85

What are the risks?

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Thousands have lost their lives at sea, through exposure, lack of food or water, or through drowning because of unseaworthy and overcrowded boats. It is estimated that more than half the boat people are drowned during the journey.

What prompts the exodus?

The Vietnamese Government, by various means of intimidation, has brought pressure to bear on the ethnic Chinese community to leave the country. The means of exit are controlled by the government, which exacts payment (about £1,500 each) from potential refugees and confiscates their property. Members of the South Vietnamese middle class are also under pressure. Ethnic Vietnamese have bought documents from public security officials for gold (about £2,800 each) showing them as ethnic Chinese and therefore entitled to leave. But the operation is primarily aimed at Vietnamese of Chinese origin though their families may have been several generations in Vietnam.

How many more may be expected?

It is estimated that more than one million ethnic Chinese remain in South Vietnam but it is impossible to say how many of them and other Vietnamese wish or will be forced to leave. In June 1979 about 3,000 a day were leaving.

What is the Hong Kong Government doing to help?

In addition to the 14,300 refugees Hong Kong has accepted for settlement, Hong Kong provides temporary refuge, pending permanent resettlement elsewhere by UNHCR, for all refugees who reach the territory in their own boats. On 17 July there were 66,138 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong awaiting resettlement. Only 5,003 refugees have so far been sent on by UNHCR to countries of permanent settlement and, because of shortage of staff in the UNHCR office, the majority remain under the care of the Hong Kong authorities.

What is the extent of British financial assistance to the UNHCR?

In 1979, the UK gave £3.5 million, about 8.5 per cent of the High Commissioner's General Programme. The British Government has announced that it will make available a further £5 million in the next twelve months for South- East Asian refugees.