TNAG-0897-FCO40-1107-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 89

requisitioned by the Government.

We spent two days interviewing

in this particular camp; because of inadequate sanitation and poor ventilation, combined with intense heat and humidity, the air in the building is permanently foul. There are no beds, and on the lower floors of the building the refugees sleep on stone floors which are permanently damp. The Hong Kong Government are

conscious of the need to decant the refugees from this building as

soon as alternative space can be found.

5. In most of the camps refugees are allowed freedom of entry and

exit and, indeed, are encouraged to find jobs. If they do so

they do not receive the daily UNHCR allowance, at present about 30 to 60p per head.

The composition of the refugee population

6. The vast majority (about 85%) of the refugees in Hong Kong are

from North Vietnam, and most of these are ethnic Chinese from the

border areas. These were literally expelled by the Vietnamese Government following the Sino-Vietnamese war in February this year. Our selection of refugees for resettlement in the United Kingdom

necessarily reflects these proportions.

7. It remains to be seen whether these people who have lived with

Communism for many years will find it easier or harder to

resettle in the West than those from the South who comprise the

existing Vietnamese refugee population in the UK. One

significant factor, of course, is that in North Vietnam the

learning of English plays no part in the educational system, and

although we were able to select some English speakers, the

proportion is lower than we might have hoped for. Skills most

commonly represented are similarly indicative of the major

industries to be found in the far North of Vietnam principally

ship-building and dockyard workers from the major port of Haiphong and those connected with the pottery industry. There may be some

comfort to be derived from the fact that many of these people have manual skills (welders, carpenters, potters etc) which might be readily channelled in other directions to match job opportunities

in the UK.

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