TNAG-1392-FCO40-1864-Future-of-Hong-Kong-briefing-for-meetings-and-visits-1985 — Page 154

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those leaving Indo-China by boat. The UK has SO far accepted 19,000 Indo-Chinese although in the last three years it has accepted less than 500 from Hong Kong.

We have continuing international

commitments

to resettle family reunion and ship rescue cases.

III TREATMENT OF THE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG

OPEN AND CLOSED CENTRES

5.

All refugees arriving from Vietnam

granted refugee status by

the Hong Kong Government under a provision of the Immigration Ordinance (which was specially amended for this purpose). Initially

they were accommodated

in open centres, run jointly by voluntary

agencies and the UNHCR and located

in premises within the urban

provided by the Hong Kong Government.

are as

They were

able to move freely in and out of the centres, and to seek outside

employment. (Over 90% of adult heads of families and single adults

in the open centres are employed).

6.

Initially the rate of resettlement in Western countries in

response to the crisis was high; in 1979 the average monthly rate of

resettlement from Hong Kong was 2,000; in 1980 this rose to 3,000,

in 1981 it fell to 1,500; and when, in 1982, it fell to 770 per

month, Hong Kong's refugee population rose accordingly (see Table

I Annex A). The Hong Kong Government introduced the closed centre

policy in July of that year.

Since that date, under a further

special provision of the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance, all newly

arriving refugees have been placed in closed centres, where they are

detained and are not permitted to seek outside employment. The aim of this policy is to deter would-be refugees from setting out

from

Vietnam for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government have attempted to

ensure that news of the policy reaches those still in Vietnam. The

run by specially recruited staff of the Correctional

Services Department, which

also responsible for

Kong's prisons and other correctional institutions.

reimburses the Hong Kong Government approximately one third of its

annual expenditure on refugees (HK$ 20 million out of a total of HK$

60 million in 1984).

centres are

is

running Hong

The UNHCR

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