region. This signalled the end of the era of automatic resettlement. Asylum seekers were thereafter to be divided into those accorded refugee status, who would await resettlement in the West, and those whom screening had determined not to be refugees, who should return to their country of origin.
So far over 1,000 volunteers have returned to Vietnam, and the first group of people who had not volunteered, but who had been determined by the screening process not to be refugees, were returned from Hong Kong in December 1989.
The Comprehensive Plan of Action carries a separate section devoted to the treatment of unaccompanied children. Its cardinal principles are that any action on behalf of children should be, first of all, in the best interest of the child and, secondly, in the interests of family unity. It provides for the establishment of a Committee to be made up of representatives of the Hong Kong Government, UNHCR and any other appropriate agencies, tasked to find solutions as quickly as possible on a case-by-case basis for each child. Unaccompanied children should be identified as soon as possible after arrival: those over 15 should be screened, but by specially qualified staff; for those under 15, the Committee should take the decision on which solution would be in the best interests of the child.
The UNHCR have established the Committee in Hong Kong and have appointed an executive agency to deal with the detailed casework. Research so far has shown that unaccompanied children in the camps in Hong Kong tend to fall into two categories: those whose parents have already reached the West and those whose parents remained behind in Vietnam.
In a very large number of cases, the children are in the care of uncles or aunts in a wider network of extended Vietnamese families. This makes it difficult to estimate the total number of unaccompanied children in Hong Kong, but we believe the Committee is likely to be asked to consider some 5,000 cases. Very few orphans have been identified. Those who have no parents tend to be absorbed into family groups, usually of relatives. In such circumstances, adoption is not usually considered to be the best option for the child. There has only been one case of adoption of a Vietnamese child in recent years.
Children whose parents are already in the West would rejoin them under family reunion arrangements. Those whose parents are still in Vietnam have often been sent out in the hope that they will be resettled in the West and will thereby establish
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