to
result Hong Kong, which already has the largest number
of boat people awaiting resettlement in South East Asia (and has done so for three years), would have
shoulder an even larger share of the burden. When
additonal factors such as the territory's extreme population density and the continuing burden of legal and illegal immigration from China are taken into
account, it is understandable that local Hong Kong people would strongly resent such a measure.
conclusion i S
HMG's
that present circumstances do not make
it possible to accept the Select Committee's recommendation that the closed camp policy be ended.
CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE FCO WOULD WITHDRAW
ITS SANCTION FROM THE CLOSED CAMP POLICY
5.
It has never been either HMG's or the Hong Kong Government's intention that the closed camps should be
a permanent
feature of Hong Kong's refugee policy.
The Hong Kong Government have always made clear that
the policy i s a temporary measure: if the flow of
illegal departures from Vietnam were to be reduced to
a trickle, such deterrent measures would not longer be
necessary. The sooner this happens the better pleased
HMG and Hong Kong will be. However the factors which
determine the rate of departures are beyond the
control of Her Majesty's Government or the Hong Kong
Government, and depend on developments within etna.
This is the root of the problem. As long
social and economic conditions imposed by the H
Government make life within Vietnam intolerable
large numbers of people, they will continue
attracted by the prospect of life in the
Without some policy of deterrence, Hong Kon
continue to be viewed as a convenient gateway
west:
ог, if the west will not take those lovi
Vietnam, as a resettlement goal in itself
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.