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which the High Commissioner and his staff contributed to
the international Meeting last July on Indo-Chinese
refugees.
The idea of this Meeting was originally
proposed to the UN Secretary General by my Prime Minister. Since then the outflow of boat people has decreased, but we must continue to do all that is possible to ensure that the Vietnamese Government maintain their undertaking on refugee departures. As the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, said in his speech to the Meeting "no country has the right to force on other countries a section of its own population which it no longer wants within its borders" and "those who wish to leave must be allowed to continue their normal lives in Vietnam whilst they await departure".
Hong Kong
I would like to draw attention to the special problem faced by Hong Kong, which has an excellent record in accepting all the boat people who have arrived, despite its terrible overcrowding. Hong Kong has never turned a refugee away.
This small territory has seen its popu-
lation grow from half a million to nearly five million in the last thirty years. There were over 65,000 refugees in Hong Kong on 2 October and a far greater number of illegal immigrants. Since the rate of inflow still continues at over 2,500 per month and resettlement is slow, the overall decrease in the refugee population is small. UNHCR are working hard in conjunction with the local authorities in arranging for resettlement.
But although
Hong Kong has received some 35% of all Vietnamese boat refugees, it has received only 15% of the resettlement places that have been pledged by third countries At the July Meeting we committed ourselves to take in a further 10,000; and as they arrive in increasing numbers at the various reception points across the country I believe I can say that they are being made very welcome and then carefully prepared for the plunge into everyday life in a
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