CONFIDENTIAL
2
2.
Consequently, Hong Kong had a caseload of 10,000 of which 6,000 were hardcore cases and of
whom about 5,000 had been here for more than 2 years. Local support for the Government's policy on Vietnamese refugees had been only grudgingly given originally. There was now increasing political pressure on the Government to modify its policy.
3.
It also needed to be borne in mind that Hong Kong had settled 15,000 people from Indo-China since 1975 and had spent some US$20 million on the refugee programme.
4.
The influx of Vietnamese and the policy adopted towards them needed to be viewed against the background that in the past five years, 1⁄2 million people had come to Hong Kong from China and the population had increased to 5.2 million. Because of the population implications, Hong Kong did not allow family reunification from China and all illegal immigrants from China were repatriated. Increasingly Hong Kong people were feeling that they were being discriminated against compared with Vietnamese who had no claim on Hong Kong whatsoever.
5.
With the more restricted US criteria on refugees it was expected that in future, 80 - 85% of new arrivals would not be considered by the US and there were very few other resettlement prospects.
6.
S for S stressed that it would not be politically acceptable for Hong Kong to consider resettling the 10,000 caseload in Hong Kong as suggested by Geneva, because this would have a siderable pull effect from Vietnam and would also mean that large numbers of the 250,000 former refugees from Vietnam now settled in China would come to Hong Kong. Already, 15,000 of these had tried to enter Hong Kong but had been repatriated.
7.
S for S noted the suggestion in the recent Technical Meeting in Geneva that the Orderly Departure Programme (ODP) might be increased and these might deter illegal departures. In Hong Kong's view the ODP (which
run according to Immigration Rules) had little or no effect on illegal departures. In the next three months, Hong Kong expected an increase in new arrivals from
/Vietnam
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