TNAG-1413-FCO40-1889-Future-of-Hong-Kong-annual-report-to-Parliament-on-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 163

VIII. SECURITY

CONFIDENTIAL

51.

Her Majesty's Government has announced that it will be

withdrawing the Second Battalion 7th Gurkha Rifles from Hong Kong in

1987, and that the battalion will be disbanded leaving a garrison of

on e British and three Gurkha battalions.

is a reduction to

1980 levels.

Rifles was raised at

This

The Second Battalion 7th Gurkha

that time as a stop-gap measure to deal with increased illegal

immigration. Her Majesty's Government, in consultation with the

Hong Kong Government, has also announced that it will not be

proceeding with the

Territories.

construction of the Kohima

Barracks in the New

52.

Notwithstanding

The

and

amnes ty

announcement

true.

The

of more

the overall reduction in illegal immigration

there was an increase in the numbers attempting to enter Hong Kong

illegally in middle and late 1985. Arrests for

for this period averaged

1,250 persons per month, that is 30 percent up on the same period

last year, or approximately 15 percent of the level in 1979.

reasons for the increase appear to be rumours of an

decreased levels of border security due to the recent

of a reduction in the garrison, neither of

of which a re

increase may also be in part as a result of the in troduction

sophisticated detection equipment along the border earlier this

year. Intelligence evaluation shows that the percentage of those

who evade the security forces at the border out of the total numbers

that attempt to Cross has decreased dramatically from 53 percent in

1979 to 10 percent in 1985. Subsequent arrests of evaders in

have resulted areas

rates of arrest in the last few years

which are probably close to 100 per cent.

border Cross

consultations with the Chinese authorities have been held to try to

stem the recent increase.

urban

in

the

IX.

CONCLUSION

53.

The signing of the Joint Declaration, which confirmed that the

United Kingdom would remain responsible for the administration of

Hong Kong

to 30 June 1997, and which spelled ou t the basic

policies of

of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong for

up

17

CONFIDENTIAL