SECRET
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 141300Z FCO
TELNO 2280
OF 14100OZ JUNE 88
SECRET
HKD 243/8
TOP POP Q DIJT ?
598
133273
MDHIAN 3304
MIPT : VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE : TEXT OF CS'S SPEECH BEGINS
FOR OVER 13 YEARS, VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN COMING TO HONG KONG. THEY HAVE COME NOT TO SEEK A NEW LIFE IN HONG KONG BUT WITH THE HOPE OF BEING RESETTLED ELSEWHERE. DURING THAT TIME, WE HAVE GIVEN TEMPORARY ASYLUM TO NO LESS THAT 123,000 BOAT PEOPLE AND HONG KONG ITSELF HAS RESETTLED SOME 15,000 INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES.
IN THE PERIOD AFTER THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BOAT PEOPLE WAS HELD IN GENEVA IN 1979, RESETTLEMENT KEPT PACE WITH ARRIVALS. BUT ALTHOUGH ARRIVALS HAVE RISEN IN RECENT YEARS, RESETTLEMENT HAS CONTINUED TO FALL. IN 1987, THE NUMBER OF BOAT PEOPLE COMING TO HONG KONG ROSE BY 65 PER CENT AND THOSE LEAVING TO BE RESETTLED DROPPED BY 42 PER CENT. THIS YEAR, THE SITUATION IS EVEN WORSE.
THE MASSIVE INFLUX OF BOAT PEOPLE FROM VIETNAM OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAS CAUSED THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COMMUNITY OF HONG KONG GRAVE CONCERN. COMING AS IT DOES AFTER TWO YEARS OF A STEADY INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARRIVING AND A DRASTIC REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF RESETTLEMENT PLACES ON OFFER, IT HAS CREATED AN INTOLERABLE BURDEN ON THIS ALREADY OVERCROWDED TERRITORY.
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MORE THAN 5,000 BOAT PEOPLE ARRIVED IN HONG KONG DURING THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1988 A FURTHER (.... > HAVE ARRIVED SO FAR IN JUNE. ALL BUT A HANDFUL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE ETHNIC VIETNAMESE AND MORE THAN 70 PER CENT CAME FROM NORTH VIETNAM AND HAVE NO CONNECTIONS OR FAMILY LINKS OUTSIDE VIETNAM. THEIR PROSPECTS FOR RESETTLEMENT IN THIRD COUNTRIES UNDER CURRENT CRITERIA ARE NEGLIGIBLE. THEY HAVE SWELLED OUR TOTAL REFUGEE POPULATION TO OVER 16,000 - A FIGURE HIGHER THAN AT ANY TIME SINCE 1980 AND ARE STRETCHING OUR RESOURCES FOR THEIR RECEPTION, ACCOMMODATION AND CARE TO THE LIMIT. THE THREE EXISTING CLOSED CENTRES ARE FULL TO BURSTING POINT AND THREE ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY CLOSED CENTRES HAVE HAD TO BE OPENED TO HOUSE THE CONTINUING FLOW OF ARRIVALS.
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RESETTLEMENT PLACES TO MATCH THE CURRENT ARRIVAL RATES OF BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG, OR ELSEWHERE IN THIS REGION, ARE SIMPLY NO
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