TNAG-1373-FCO40-1819-Ministerial-visits-from-the-UK-to-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 82

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BACKGROUND

General

CONFIDENTIAL

1.

10,000 Vietnamese

refugees in Hong Kong awaiting

resettlement, the largest number of any place of first asylum in

South East Asia. It is becoming increasingly difficult

to find

resettlement places. Several resettlement countries, including the US, have cited the UK's failure to take more refugees from Hong Kong

a major reason for this. The UK has accepted some 19,000 Vietnamese for resettlement since 1975, mostly from Hong Kong, but has taken very few from the territory in recent years (88 in 1984; 5 SO far in 1985). We have been severely criticised in Hong Kong for

this.

as

Closed camp policy

2.

have

Since July 1982, in order to discourage further Vietnamese from leaving by boat for Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Government been placing all newly arriving Vietnamese refugees in closed camps not permitted to seek outside employment.

in reducing level of arrivals, but flow

i s There

strong public

over half

are

from which they Policy has been effective

nevertheless

policy population

in

continues.

Hong Kong.

Just

are

currently in

the

for support

total

refugee

of the

The closed camps.

rest (ie those who

arrived before July 1982) are accommodated

accommodated in open camps run by the

local office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in cooperation with voluntary agencies.

Closed camps conditions

3.

FCO Legal Advisers

consider

that

accord with HMG's

obligations under

the

the policy does

International

not

Covenant

fully

on

Civil and Political Rights.

on This advice, which rests obscure legal point, was endorsed by the Attorney General. we have not been forced to admit this publicly.

However conditions

a rather

So far

in

the

have camp s

been

criticised

CONFIDENTIAL

time from

to

time

by MP's,