TNAG-1423-FCO40-1906-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 124

CONFIDENTIAL

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We have continuing international commitment to resettle family

reunion and ship rescue cases. The UK is working with UNHCR and

other resettlement countries to find durable solutions to the

Indo-Chinese refugee problem.

4.

III TREATMENT OF THE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG

OPEN AND CLOSED CENTRES

5.

All refugees arriving from Vietnam are 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

areas provided by the Hong Kong Government. They were nevertheless

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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.

The

Initially the rate of resettlement in Western countries in

response to the crisis was high; average stays in Hong Kong were

months. In 1982, however, when resettlement levels fell sharply,

Hong Kong's refugee population rose accordingly (see table ...).

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 deprived of

their liberty and are not permitted to seek outside employment.

aim of this policy is to deter would-be refugees from setting out

from Vietnam. The Hong Kong Government have attempted to ensure

that news of the policy reaches those still in Vietnam by enclosing

a warning notice with letters sent by closed centre inhabitants to

their relatives in Vietnam. The centres are run by specially

recruited staff of the Correctional Services Department, which is

also responsible for running Hong Kong's prisons and other

correctional institutions. The UNHCR 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).

CONFIDENTIAL