VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
6
Vietnamese boat people have been arriving by boat in Hong Kong since 1975. In 1979 the influx reached its peak, with over 66,000
boat people arriving during the first 7 months of the year. The
numbers in Hong Kong fell sharply after the Geneva Conference on
Refugees and Displaced Persons in South-East Asia in July 1979, but
arrivals since have continued to be substantial. Since 1975 about
130,000 boat people have arrived in Hong Kong; some 110,000 have
been resettled elsewhere, of whom over 62,000 have gone to the USA,
and over 13,000 to the UK. About 14,500 displaced Indo-Chinese have
been accepted for permanent settlement in Hong Kong. The problem of
Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong has deteriorated sharply in
the recent past year. There are now about 25,000 Vietnamese boat people in camps in Hong Kong, compared with about 9,000 a year ago.
Most of those arriving are ethnic Vietnamese; about 70% come from
North Vietnam. Most are farmers or fishermen and cannot be
described as refugees as defined by the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees.
6.16. In 1987 and 1983 the numbers of Vietnamese Boat People
arriving in Hong Kong increased dramatically. Within a year the population in the camps had risen from about 3,000 to over 25,000, making ethnic Vietnamese farmers or fishermen from the North making up the great majority. Most were not fleeing persecution but had set out in search of a better life. The prospects for arranging
their resettlement in third countries were minimal.
6.17 On 16 June 1988 the Hong Kong Government with HMG support introduced a policy of screening new arrivals, with procedures based on the criteria set out in the 1951 UN Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of Refugees, to distinguish genuine refugees from economic migrants. There is close co-operation between the Hong Kong Government and the UNHCR to ensure that the
Genuine screening process is carried out within UNHCR guidelines. refugees are accommodated in Hong Kong awaiting resettlement. Boat People who are not refugees will be accommodated in Hong Kong until they can be repatriated to Vietnam, subject to suitable
return. This is in accordance safeguards for their treatment on with the internationally accepted principle that illegal immigrants
On 2 March 1989 should be repatriated to their country of origin.
All
the first group of boat people who asked to return to Vietnam flew to Hanoi under the protection of safeguards of good treatment agreed between UNHCR and the Vietnamese Government.
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