From The Minister of State
The Rt Hon The Lord Goronwy-Roberts,
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My dear Fenner,
72
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
23 April 1979
Mekander Williamsony 25.4 2 [APR 197) 24/4.
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In my letter of 9 April, I said that I had asked the Hong Kong Government for a full report on the further incidents involving Hong Kong Boat dwellers. I have now heard from them that the events referred to in the cable you had received were probably the following:
On 24 February, a young girl, named Wong Lai-la, fell from her family's motorised cargo boat and was drowned. The boat was at the time operating in the Yau Ma Tei Public Cargo Working Area, which is within the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter but separate from that part of the Shelter where the old, immobile squatter boats on which the boat dwellers live are permanently moored. The Wong family themselves are not boat squatters but working seafarers.
On 24 March, one month after Miss Wong's death, a group of some 50 social workers and social work students staged a peaceful demonstration outside the headquarters of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, which is the autonomous corporation responsible for building and managing public housing in Hong Kong. This group carried with them a symbolic coffin and two wreaths. They delivered a protest note to the Director of Housing, which linked the death of Miss Wong to the poor living. conditions of boat people. Afterwards, following a police warning that the demonstration was unlawful (since no permit had been applied for), the demonstrators dispersed without incident.
I can confirm that no boat dwellers took part in the demonstration
The police subsequently considered whether any further action should be taken against the organisers of the demonstration, but eventually decided not to prosecute any of those involved. matter is therefore regarded as closed.
The
These incidents of course in no way alter the claims of the boat squatters to be rehoused on land. The Hong Kong Government fully accept that the boat dwellers, like everybody else, are entitled to expect decent housing at a price they can afford. But as I explained when we debated the subject in the House of Lords on 7 March, the Hong Kong Government face enormous problems in trying to cope with a population that is being continuously swollen by immigration and it is simply impossible for them to keep up with the demand for new homes. There has to be a waiting list and, except for those whose vessels are in a dangerous state, the boat dwellers have no justification for claiming priority over the many people /living in equally
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