:
in HLC.
first visit presented no problems but the second time I obviously presented the CSD and Hong Kong bureaucracy with serious difficulties. I arrived there with a UNHCR worker and was met by a flustered member of the World Relief team in the camp who told us that the CSD had given permission for us to visit the day before as there had been some confusion about the date I was due to visit. Although clearance had been given for, the previous day the CSD initially would not allow me into the camp on the day I had arrived because I had not got clearance. It took about 20 minutes to sort out with various phone calls being made to superioirs. Then I was allowed in.
-
In the
My initial feeling at Hei Ling Chau was that there were a lot more people. I walked into the hall at the front of the compound and there were people everywhere - CSD staff and refugees and World Relief Workers. After the comparitive quietness and emptiness of Chi Ma Wan it was a surprise to be confronted by So many people. Hei Ling Chau was built to take 2,500 refugees - it now houses some 2,700. already overcramped conditions the extra 200 refugees make a difference. All people in Hei Ling Chau are from North Vietnam. The continued influx from Vietnam is mainly of Northern Vietnamese and so space is at a premium and HKGO are looking for ways to expand refugee accommodation once again. I was introduced to the Camp Superintendent. He surprised me. I had been led to believe that the CSD were hard in their attitude towards the 'detainees' (as I had read) but the picture he gave me was very different. His first words to me were that the camp was desperately over-crowded, the conditions were difficult for both refugees and staff and that the West and especially Britain should be making more resettlement offers. He said "Please try to do something in the UK" .He then invited me to go and look for myself at the situation. There was no CSD escort and I was able to wander freely around the camp with Belinda. The Superintendent's attitude surprised and pleased me. He too was concerned about the position, not only of Hong Kong, but also of these people locked away and forgotten by the West.
Lunch had just finished at Hei Ling Chau when I arrived and 50 everyone was up and about. As with Chi Ma Wan the whole area is concreted over - there are no grass areas and no trees within the compound. There is a large playing area, marked out for football and other games, but this too is concrete. The number of people there amazed me. I walked down the 20 foot wide concrete path which
is
lined by the living huts and workshops and school and it was like being in the centre of Hong Kong in rush hour. The only differences were that many eyes were watching me as I walked and that no-one had anywhere to get to in a hurry.
built
on
We visited the medical centre where a clinic was in progress. The medical centre, like the rest of the camp had been recently
and seemed to be organised very well. There was seating for the refugees to wait
and 3 consulting rooms although only one doctor was in attendance. The number of people waiting must have been about quite
proportion to the the
number a large
in the people
in
camp.
40
number Belinda told me
of that
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