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Although there is no consensus, some refugee officials believe that approx-
imately half of the people who now flee Vietnam do so initially for economic
reasons, but there is wide agreement that once people leave Vietnam, they can-
not return. The Hong Kong government has attempted for more than two years to
get the Vietnam government to take back eight refugees who have chosen
voluntarily to return, but these efforts have been met with silence from Hanoi.
In 1980, with the change in refugee composition, public sentiment in Hong
Kong shifted away from the refugees, in part because of the deep, historical
Another factor contributing to
growing unease over the refugees' presence was concern about overcrowding in
Notwithstanding the small percentage of the colony's total
animosities between Chinese and Vietnamese.
the colony.
population the refugees constituted, Hong Kong had resettled approximately
14,500 refugees since 1975. Yet, more recently, some both inside as well as
outside government began to ask, "How many more and for how long?"
1982 to 1986: Humane Deterrence, Closed Camps
In 1982, to discourage new refugee arrivals and to reduce increasing
domestic political pressures, the Hong Kong government instituted a policy of
"closed" camps. Under this policy, new refugee arrivals are kept in camps
they can not leave until resettlement arrangements have been made. Unlike
their peers in the open camps, closed camp refugees may not hold jobs outside
the camp and are subject to a high level of discipline and control.
Also, to
dissuade relatives from following, notes describing the closed camps are put
in the refugees' letters home.
The Hong Kong government policy of closed camps has been strongly
criticized, perhaps most persistently by media and refugee groups in Britain,
as morally indefensible. A closer look at the situation may be helpful in
understanding what led the Hong Kong government to adopt this policy.
First,
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