TNAG-1425-FCO40-1908-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 56

UMELCO RESTRICTED

DRAFT SPEECH BY DR HON HO KAM-FAI, OBE, JP LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 15.5.85

Adjournment Debate on

The Vietnamese Refugee Problem in Hong Kong

M

sir,

I would like to outline the factual background of the Vietnamese refugee problem in Hong Kong before my colleagues and I speak on different aspects of the problem and make proposals for solving the problem.

The refugee problem in Hong Kong dates back to 1975, when South Vietnam fell. The first group of Vietnamese refugees to arrive in Hong Kong were the 3,745 on board the 'Clara Maer sk' in May 1975. Thereafter, refugees continued to arrive in small numbers, but the trickle grew to flood when, in the first seven months of 1979, 66,000 refugees arrived in Hong Kong. Faced with this problem, and at the instigation of the British Government, an international conference on Indo-Chinese Boat Refugees was convened in Geneva by the United Nations Secretary General, As a result of this conference it was agreed that:

(a) all those leaving Vietnam in boats would be

presumed to be refugees;

(b)

all countries in the region would grant these un for tuna te people asylum; and

(c) third countries would resettle these refugees.

The rate of arrivals fell after the Geneva Conference but Hong Kong still received 6,800 in 1980; 8,500 in 1981; and 7,840 in 1982. Un for tunately, the rate of resettlement dropped even faster 37,500 refugees were resettled from Hong Kong in 1980; 17,800 in 1981; but only 9,200 in 1982, and 3,700 in 1984.

-

UMELCO RESTRICTED