ENG-1988 — Page 389

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POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION

refugees, Norway took in 170 refugees for resettlement on humanitarian grounds, including eight who are handicapped persons.

The cost of maintaining the Vietnamese boat people and refugees in Hong Kong came to $172 million in 1988, of which $45 million was spent on detention centres, $116 million on closed centres and $11 million on the open centre. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) contributed a total of $56 million towards the upkeep of refugees in closed centres during 1988.

Some Vietnamese refugees had previously settled in China before coming to Hong Kong. They are known as ex-China Vietnamese Illegal Immigrants (ECVIIs). At the end of the year, there were 953 ECVIIS in Hong Kong awaiting repatriation to China.

Personal Documentation

The phasing-out of re-entry permits previously required by most residents travelling to China and Macau significantly reduced demand for this document. Nevertheless, re-entry permits accounted for 62 per cent of the 877 000 travel documents issued.

Demand for passports increased by 21 per cent to 203 000. Included in this figure are 30 836 passports issued with the new status of British National (Overseas). Demand for the BN(O) passport was somewhat low, but this was felt to have been caused by speculative and inaccurate reports that the BN(O) passport was not acceptable for travel to some countries in the region.

Identity cards issued up to June 30, 1987 are being replaced with permanent or ordinary identity cards in a phased four-year programme which began in July of the same year. These cards have no expiry date and, with the agreement of the Chinese government, will remain valid beyond July 1, 1997 and until such time as they are replaced by the future Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

Marriages

The registration of marriages, births and deaths is the responsibility of the Immigration Department.

All marriages in Hong Kong are governed by the Marriage Ordinance and the Marriage Reform Ordinance. Under the Marriage Ordinance, at least 15 days notice of an intended marriage must be given to the Registrar of Marriages. The Registrar has discretionary powers to reduce the period of notice in special circumstances or to grant a special licence dispensing with notice altogether, but this is done only in exceptional circumstances.

Marriages may take place at any of the 206 places of public worship licensed for the celebration of marriages, or at any of the 13 full-time marriage registries and three part-time sub-registries located in the main urban districts and rural centres. During the year, 42 524 marriages were performed in the registries and 2 714 at licensed places of worship. All records are maintained permanently at the head office.

The Marriage Reform Ordinance provides that all marriages entered into in Hong Kong on or after October 7, 1971 shall imply the voluntary union, for life, of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and may be contracted only in accordance with the Marriage Ordinance. It declares valid certain customary marriages and other marriages known as modern marriages provided, in each case, they were entered into before October 7, 1971. The ordinance makes provision for the post-registration of these marriages, and for their dissolution. During the year, 53 customary and 60 modern marriages were post-registered.