TNAG-1184-FCO40-1486-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 66

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overland from Vietnam in 1978-79 have sought to enter Hong Kong as refugees. The government has returned them to China, however, on the grounds that they already had been resettled in China.

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Refugee Impact. The Hong Kong government, in close cooperation with UNHCR representatives, has provided facilities for housing the Vietnamese boat refugees and drawn extensively the financial and manpower resources of its departments assist in their care, education and movement. Hong Kong's buoyant economy made it possible for the government to authorize the refugees to take employment outside the camps, but this benefit is not available to new arrivals. Social friction in the very crowded refugee camps was thus reduced, and care and maintenance costs for the UNHCR lowered. There is some resentment among the Hong Kong population toward the Vietnamese refugees, particularly when economic activity is slow. Comparison of the treatment accorded the Vietnamese with that accorded illegal entrants

illegal entrants from China also is a point of friction.

Current Refugee Status.

There were 12,000 Vietnamese refugees in asylum status at the end of July 1982. Approximately 6,500 refugees departed for the United States in the first ten months of FY 1982, and 2,900 refugees to other countries. Hong Kong permanently resettled 108 refugees from Vietnam in 1980; 93 in 1981; and 30 in 1982 (January - May). No repatriation to Vietnam or the other Indochinese states from Hong Kong is foreseen at this time.

Refugee Program Costs. In 1981, the Hong Kong government spent U.S. $1.1 million for maintenance of Vietnamese refugees in its own and UNHCR camps, and estimates expenditures at $1.92 million in 1982. In 1981, the UNHCR budget for these refugees was $4.5 million; the 1982 UNHCR budget is $3.6 million.

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Government Policy.

INDONESIA

Indonesian policy does not permit the permanent resettlement of refugees

a policy reflecting population pressures within Indonesia, significant unemployment in the major cities, and the political sensitivity of the

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