TNAG-1427-FCO40-1910-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1986 — Page 149

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CONFIDENTIAL

BACKGROUND

General

1.

South

10,000

Vietnamese

THIS IS A COPY

THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR

40 YEARS UNDER FOI EXEMPTION No...270).

in refugees

Hong

Kong

to

awaiting

resettlement, the largest number of any place of first asylum in find East Asia. It i s becoming increasingly difficult resettlement places, Several resettlement countries, including the US, have cited the UK's failure to take more refugees from Hong Kong

for

The UK this.

has accepted

19,000

Vietnamese for resettlement since 1975, mostly from Hong Kong, but has taken very few from the territory in recent years (88 in 1984; 5 SO far in 1985). We have been severely criticised in Hong Kong for

this.

as

major

reason

s ome

Closed camp policy

2.

Since July 1982, in order to discourage further Vietnamese from leaving by boat for Hong Kong, the Hong Kong

the Hong Kong Government have been placing all newly arriving Vietnamese refugees in closed camps

they

are

not

from which

Policy has been effective

nevertheless

policy

continues.

in Hong Kong.

population

are

currently

permitted

to seek

outside employment. in reducing level of arrivals, but flow

There

support strong public

Just

of the half

total

in closed camps. The rest (ie those who

is

over

for the

refugee

for Refugees

arrived before July 1982) are accommodated in open camps run by the local office of the United Nations High Commission (UNHCR) in cooperation with voluntary agencies.

Closed camps conditions

3.

However conditions

in

the

have camps

been

criticised

from time to time

by MP's,

CONFIDENTIAL