TNAG-1425-FCO40-1908-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 110

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those leaving Indo-China by boat.

The UK has so far accepted around

19,000 Indo-Chinese although in the last three years it has accepted

less than 500 from Hong Kong. We have continuing international commitments to resettle family reunion and ship rescue cases.

III TREATMENT OF THE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG

OPEN AND CLOSED CENTRES

5.

ΑΠ

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 we re 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 we re

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.

resettlement in Western countries in

Initially the rate of

response to the crisis was high; in 1979 the average monthly rate of

resettlement from Hong Kong was 2,000; in

in 1980 this rose to 3,000,

in 1981 it fell to 1,500; and when, in 1982, it fell to 770 per month, Hong Kong's refugee population rose accordingly (see Table

I Annex A). 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 detained and are not permitted to seek outside employment. The aim

of this policy is to deter would-be refugees from setting out from Vietnam for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government have attempted to

ensure that news of the policy reaches those still 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.

reimburses the Hong Kong Government approximately one annual expenditure on refugees (HK$ 20 million out of a

60 million in 1984).

The UNHCR

third of its

total of HK$ total of

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