TNAG-1425-FCO40-1908-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 65

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Our treatment of Vietnamese refugees at the time was not in line with either policies of other

Asian countries most of which had been operating closed camps, or our own towards illegal

immigrants from the north, whom, once we captured, we repatriated.

In the face of the only realistic options open to Hong Kong at the time regarding Vietnamese refugees, i.e.

repatriation, refusal to land and the closed camps, the last was certainly the least inhumane.

With the wisdom of hindsight, we can say that the objective, although by no means a pleasant one, but definitely a necessary one, has been achieved.

The monthly arrivals in 1982 two months after the adoption of the closed camp policy (which was the time estimated for the news to get back to Vietnam) the number of

For the last four months arrivals dropped quite dramatically.

of 1982, the total arrivals numbered only half of those over the same period the previous year. In 1983 the total arrivals were less than half of 1982, and in 1984 the total was 60% of

that of 1983.

The closed camps are part and parcel of measures necessary to curb the aggravation of an international problem. Unless and until the world can help us see the end of the tunnel, Hong Kong cannot afford to act otherwise.