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(k) Whether or not there have been/will be any discussions on
the status of refugees if they remain in Hong Kong after 1997
ANSWER: Our aim is to ensure that all the refugees are resettled
well before 1997. However in the event that some remain after that
date, there are no grounds for thinking that their status will be
any different from at present. The Agreement on the future of Hong Kong provides that Hong Kong's laws will remain basically unchanged
after 1 July 1997. In the case of Vietnamese refugees the relevant
legislation is the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance, which contains a
special provision under which Vietnamese refugees may be allowed to
remain in Hong Kong pending their resettlement elsewhere. I would
add that the Chinese themselves have an admirable record as
providers of asylum to Indo-Chinese refugees: 270,000 are already
resettled there.
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