TNAG-1417-FCO40-1900-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1985 — Page 58

+

RESTRICTED

(h) The effect of closed camps on the subsequent ability of the

refugees to resettle

Answer. No evidence that closed camps make refugees more difficult

to resettle than do open centres. One resettlement country, which recently accepted a special quota of refugees taken only from closed centres, said that closed centre refugees were in some way easier to

resettle, because they are always available in the centres for

interviews and medicals, and are less likely to have fallen foul of

Hong Kong law by committing petty offences than open centre

refugees.

Statistics:

Since introduction of closed centre policy in July 1982, 4054

refugees have been resettled from closed centres and 5894 from open centres. As the proportion of refugees in closed centres increases and that in open centre declines, more departures will inevitably

come from closed centres.

RESTRICTED

14