SECRET 高度機密
Page No. 8 of 9 pages
27.
Illegal immigration remained at a fairly low level, with 585 arrests on first arrival (daily average 19) compared with (revised)
figures for May and June of 943 (30) and 586 (19) and for July 1980
of 8619 (273). How many illegal immigrants are evading arrest is a matter for speculation : about 120 of these evaders are being arrested
each month.
From Vietnam
28.
The number of Vietnamese refugees arriving from Vietnam increased from 969 in June to 1436 in July (72 from the north
and 1364 from the south). On the other hand those who had been
settled in China numbered only 211 as compared with 2041 in June.
Arrivals direct from Vietnam would have been higher but for bad sea conditions caused by the south-west monsoon. The pressure to escape is unabated and bribery of officials (in one case, up to senior levels) and ineffective counter-measures by the authorities continued
to make escape possible. There is however still no evidence of any official (as distinct from officials') involvement or a change of policy on the part of the Vietnamese Government.
29.
The welcome decline in the numbers of Vietnamese refugees coming from China results from more effective action by the Chinese authorities in halting departures, the knowledge that Hong Kong had returned a substantial number (2595 in all) in this category to China in July and the voluntary return, because of bad conditions in the reception areas, by many of those who had got as far as Macau.
LIC Hong Kong August 1981
G.F. 316
SECRET 高度機密
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.