ENG-1979 — Page 29

8

THE BOAT REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM

Of necessity, the dockyard was a 'closed' centre which the refugees could not leave until medical examinations, inoculations, and initial processing and listing by immigration staff were completed. But the care given amounted to more than just shelter and two hot meals a day: for example, a sick bay was manned by volunteers from the Auxiliary Medical Service and by doctors and nurses who were refugees themselves.

After a short spell at the Government Dockyard, the refugees moved on to the less constricted and crowded conditions of an 'open' centre such as the former Royal Air Force camp, managed first by the government and later by the Red Cross at Kai Tak North, or the factory buildings at Tuen Mun run by the Housing Department.

In this second stage of their time in Hong Kong, the refugees were encouraged to find work for it had become obvious, both to the government and to the UNHCR, that a large proportion of them could be staying in Hong Kong for a considerable time. It was clearly preferable for the refugees to be active and at least partially self-supporting, rather than to be idle and prone to the apathy and hopelessness which a long wait can generate. During this stage, processing and listing continued but it was conducted by staff of the UNHCR and by the representatives of potential host countries. A regular occurrence was the rush to a camp notice-board when an announcement was displayed, indicating that a particular country was prepared to offer a certain number of resettlement places to refugees of this category or that. A series of interviews with consular officials followed. Briefings on the various countries and some basic language instruction were arranged, if possible.

After acceptance by a host country, the third and last stage began. During their final days in Hong Kong, a large number of refugee families moved back to a government departure camp, like the Argyle Street centre in Kowloon. Between it and the airport, the distance is that of a short, sweet bus journey.

A few refugees were lucky enough to pass through all three stages of the system in a matter of weeks. But these, of course, were the exceptions. In the first seven months of 1979, 66,589 refugees arrived and of these only 6,338 - less than 10 per cent – departed for resettlement. The grim picture reflected by such figures was uppermost in the Governor's mind when he left Hong Kong on July 19 on his second mission to Europe - this time to attend the Geneva conference.

Geneva and After

Speaking at the Geneva conference, arranged under the auspices of the United Nations, Sir Murray described Hong Kong as an over-populated society but also a dynamic one, intent on progress. 'By hard work, social adaptability and realism based on acceptance of the fact that resources are limited, the people have made for themselves a structure of life enormously better than 10 years ago. It is the benefits of this structure that they fear may be eroded by this influx of boat refugees over which they have no control.

'I can claim with pride,' the Governor said, 'that we have carried out our obligations to the full.' But he went on to draw attention to the feeling, widespread throughout Hong Kong, that in terms of resettlement places the territory was in effect being 'penalised' because of its humane behaviour.

'The people of Hong Kong ask why proportionately more resettlement places are given to other places of first asylum. This year 35 per cent of the boat refugees in the region came to Hong Kong, but it has only received 13 per cent of the resettlement places. Or, putting it differently, 66,000 arrived this year, but only 5,500 have been resettled. Hong Kong's record as a place of first asylum is unique. But on past experience you cannot