TNAG-1789-FCO40-2549-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1989 — Page 200

From the Secretary of State

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

for mor Spec

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3 November 1988

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Thank you for your letter of 19 October enclosing one from your constituent, Ms J Hill of 59 Gillett Road Thornton Heath, about Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong,

Hong Kong has provided temporary refuge for over 130,000 boat people since 1975. 13,000 of them have come to settle in Britain: it is an honourable record which we will continue to uphold. There remain some 16,000 people with refugee status in Hong Kong. We are working closely with the United nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the main resettlement countries to find homes for them.

The camps

in which those refugees are accommodated are being progressively liberalised. The inhabitants are being given access to training and work opportunities as a preparation for their eventual

resettlement.

In recent months however there has been a massive increase in the number of boat people arriving in Hong Kong. It became clear that the majority of those were not refugees under the criteria established by the UNHCR and observed by the international community. Their motive for leaving was not to escape political persecution but simply the desire for a better standard of living. They stood very little chance of resettlement. Their arrival in Hong Kong swamped the already stretched reception facilities there and made it more difficult for genuine refugees to be settled.

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