XCC(88)40
Page
4
under
Moreover,
the present policy, Vietnamese dependants are allowed to reunite with their relatives in Hong Kong only if their relatives became residents of Hong Kong before 1975.
(c)
Lack of incentive
(d)
counterparts,
in the
freedoms and
open
to Hong
housing UNHCR free
Kong
are
of
Unlike their closed centre Vietnamese refugees living centre enjoy most of the public services available residents. Education and provided to them by the charge. If the refugees are unemployed, the UNHCR pays them food allowances and find jobs for them. In practical terms, refugee gains very little by becoming permanent Hong Kong
Hong Kong resident. Therefore, to relax the
the criteria to include ethnic Vietnamese in the open centre is not likely to produce many additional local settlement candidates.
Accommodation problems
a
a
Another crucial factor
factor which prevents the refugees from accepting the local settlement offer is the lack of permanent housing provision. To tide them over temporary difficulties, the UNHCR operates a financial assistance scheme for those who have accepted the offer
of local settlement. This assistance includes the provision of removal and rental allowances for up to six months after the refugees become Hong Kong residents. arrangement is considered to be inadequate as it does not address their long term housing needs.
by the refugees
This
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
The Need to Change the Local Settlement Criteria
8
The local settlement programme has been established as part of international burden-sharing efforts to
to tackle the problem of Vietnamese refugees and has earned the goodwill of many resettlement countries. Feedback from the resettlement countries indicates that the existence of our local settlement programme was one of the main reasons why they increased or at least maintained the number of resettlement places for refugees from Hong Kong last year at a time when otherwise they would
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