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Hong Kong's government is a colonial one--not democratically elected--which
can adopt tough policies with seemingly little worry about public reaction.
In fact, the government does worry about public pressures and is responsive to
them; but in other ways, it does behave in a manner characteristic of a
colonial government. For example, its strict, no-nonsense administration
requires all residents to carry ID cards.
Domestic political pressures actually were a factor in the government's
decision to initiate its closed camp policy. Not only did resident Chinese
dislike Hong Kong's providing asylum to Vietnamese, but they became resentful
when their city found a place for refugees from Vietnam while turning back
Chinese fleeing mainland China, regardless of why they fled. Every day,
Chinese attempt to escape the People's Republic of China (PRC), including some
3 who have close family ties with legal Hong Kong residents. And every day,
the Hong Kong government deports some, usually at three o'clock in the
afternoon at the frontier post in the New Territories. These factors
contributed to an increasingly untenable political position for the Hong Kong
government, which decided to act to discourage new refugee arrivals from
Vietnam by opting for "humane deterrence" through a closed camp policy.
Reduction in refugee admissions by traditional countries of resettlement
such as the United States--despite the continuing arrival of new refugees in
Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian countries of first asylum--were another
significant factor in the government's decision. It appeared Hong Kong would
soon face the prospect of a growing number of refugees who would never leave.
Thus, it was to respond to these various concerns that the government adopted
its closed camp policy.
Hong Kong authorities claim the policy has had its desired effect. They
point to the decline in arrival figures in the years since 1982. In 1981,
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