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dealing with this problem continues to be full
implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Action which was agreed internationally in the Geneva Conference of June
1989. The Plan provided for the maintenance of first asylum, the screening of the new arrivals to determine their
status, the resettlement of those found to be refugees and
the repatriation of all those found not to be refugees to
their homes in Vietnam.
Even
20. In 1990, following efforts made in 1989 to encourage
departures and to discourage new arrivals, there was
sharp drop in arrivals and a steady flow of departures
through the resettlement and repatriation programmes.
so there was a net reduction of only 3,688 in the Vietnamese
population during the year. By the end of 1990 Hong Kong
was still burdened with looking after the 52,036 Vietnamese
who remained. It is imperative that effective and durable
solutions should be worked out for these people so that they
need not languish indefinitely in camps in the territory.
21.
The resettlement programme for Vietnamese with refugee status progressed satisfactorily during the year and
continued to meet the targets set by the Geneva
Conference. Coupled with the establishment of a new
Regional Resettlement Transit Centre in Bataan in the
Philippines for up to 5,000 refugees from Hong Kong
there was a prospect of Hong Kong being able to close 2
of its 3 open centres for refugees and thus be left with a
refugee population of well under 5,000 by the end of 1991. This transfer arrangement was made possible by an agreement
during the year between the British and Phillippines Governments, and the centre was built with a contribution of
three million pounds by the British Government.
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