TNAG-1427-FCO40-1910-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1986 — Page 60

I would like first to stress

the size of the task

100,000

that Hong Kong has faced in caring for the

Vietnamese boat people who have arrived in the territory

since 1975. None have been turned away. They have all

been granted

temporary asylum by the Hong Kong Government

and accommodated in camps un til

resettlement places

This is

a

considerable

Overseas

could be

found

for them.

achievement for

such a small,

overcrowded territory.

Hong Kong has

also itself

accepted some

14,500

Indo-Chinese for resettlement

over this period.

There are currently about 9,500 Vietnamese refugees

in camps in the territory.

letter, these

closed camps.

As

Ms Good rum mentions in her

refugees are divided between open and

Initially, all newly arriving boat people

were accommodated in open camps.

Most were resettled

reasonably quickly.

increasingly difficult to find resettlement places, and

the Hong Kong Government saw no alternative but to take

steps to discourage those still in Vietnam from setting

out for Hong Kong. In July of that year they therefore

policy under which all newly arriving

refugees would be placed in closed camps,

However by 1982 it was becoming

introduced

new a

would not be permitted to

from which they

This seek outside employment.

policy has been reasonably

success ful in reducing the

level of arrivals; but a flow of people out of Vietnam

nevertheless continues.

Much as we and the Hong Kong

Government dislike the policy, we see no alternative to

continuing it while refugees continue to arrive in the

territory.

arrives

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