TNAG-0972-FCO40-1191-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 16

G.S. 84

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19 AUG 1980

XCRI(80)25

REGIS Copy No

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NOTE FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

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REVIEW OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR HANDLING FOR INFLUX OF REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM IN 1979

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Members were informed by paper XCRI(80)12 that a Refugee Review Group under the chairmanship of Mr I. M. Lightbody was set up in March 1980 to review the Government's handling of the influx of refugees from Vietnam in 1979. The Group has completed its review and has reported. Only a limited number of copies were produced, but a copy is available in the Deputy Clerk of Councils' Office should any member wish to read it.

2

The following paragraphs summarise the main conclusions of the review which was in house and it is not intended to publish it. A copy of the press release which has been issued on the review is attached,

General Conclusions

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The Group has confirmed that the arrangements made in 1979 to accommodate and look after the refugees were "appropriate and adequate considering all the circumstances" and that, although the facilities provided were necessarily basic, they met the essential requirements of health and safety.

4

In particular, the Group considered the medical and health care provided to the refugees to be "reasonable and the best that could be offered without reducing services to Hong Kong's own citizens to an unacceptable degree".

5

The Group endorsed the Government's policy that the refugees should not be given better facilities than those provided to the Hong Kong population, but that they should nevertheless be treated humanely.

6

The Group recognised, however, that the arrangements made in 1979 were essentially an emergency relief operation. Now that the number of refugees remaining, albeit still high, has been reduced to more manageable proportions, some improvements in facilities are desirable in the light of experience gained last year. The Group has therefore put forward a number of recommendations in this direction.

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