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5.
(If asked whether closed camps are not really prisons/run by
prison staff.) Hong Kong's refugee camps are not run as prisons, nor by prison officers. They are run by staff of the Correctional
Services Dept specially trained to look after refugees.
refugees (through elected representatives) are also directly
involved in the daily
daily running of the camps.
UNHCR have every
access.
The
6.
(If asked under what circumstances we should discontinue the closed camp policy.) We have always made it clear that the policy is not intended to be permanent and that if the flow of illegal
from Vietnam were to be reduced to
such
departures
a
trickle,
The policy has
deterrent measures would no longer be necessary.
been effective in reducing level of new arrivals, but the flow
nevertheless continues. We should be ready to discontinue
policy whenever circumstances permitted.
the
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