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DEPARTURES TO COUNTRIES OF RESETTLEMENT
Closed camp policy would not have been necessary if resettlement prospects of refugees in Hong Kong had not deteriorated so much in 1981 and early 1982. Today Hong Kong is still dependent on other countries' resettlement efforts. Would like to commend here tremendous achievements in this respect on part of US, Canadian and Australian Governments. They have accepted 55,000, 16000 and 4,400 refugess respectively from Hong Kong. Here in Britain we have taken over 12,000 from Hong Kong and Hong Kong has itself absorbed over 14,000 Indo-Chinese. But many more resettlement places will have to be provided if homes are to be found for all the refugees who are still in Hong Kong and other places of first asylum. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr Poul Hartling will be coming to London on 5 June, and both I and My Hon Friend the Minister of State at the Home Office will be meeting him to discuss Hong Kong's problems. Resettlement will obviously be one of the
subjects we shall talk about.
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