TNAG-1790-FCO40-2550-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-third-countri-1988 — Page 30

1

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 16 NOVEMBER 1988

Speech by the Hon G T Barnes JP

Secretary for Security

Vietnamese Refugees and Boat People

Sir, a major problem for our crowded community this

I

year has been the arrival of nearly 18,000 Vietnamese refugees

and boat people, none of whom was turned away and all of whom

have had to be provided with typhoon-proof accommodation.

should like to pay tribute to the disciplined services,

auxiliary services, Government departments, UNHCR and

voluntary agencies who have coped so well with this influx.

2.

The solutions to the Vietnamese problem lie outside

Hong Kong. We can only do so much ourselves, and that must be

within the framework of the screening policy introduced on 16

June and the associated processes of repatriation,

resettlement, and the liberalisation of the former closed

camps.

Page 30Page 31

Resettlement