ENG-1991 — Page 431

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION

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people as possible who would otherwise be returned under an orderly repatriation programme to consider returning voluntarily to Vietnam under the existing UNHCR voluntary repatriation scheme.

During 1991, the government's arrangements for determining the status of new arrivals and the legal provisions for detaining and transferring Vietnamese illegal immigrants between centres were subject to several legal challenges. Partly in response to these challenges, the relevant provisions of the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance were amended on May 30, 1991 and the procedures for screening and transfers were reviewed in order to take account of the judgements delivered in the various cases.

By the end of 1991, there were 55 600 Vietnamese illegal immigrants and 4 300 refugees in Hong Kong. Of the 55 600 Vietnamese illegal immigrants, over 20 400 had been screened out and 35 200 were awaiting screening. The screening procedures in Hong Kong are carried out by immigration officers working under guidelines drawn up in consultation with the office of the UNHCR. Vietnamese screened in as refugees are housed in open centres awaiting resettlement, while those screened out as non-refugees are held in detention centres pending repatriation to Vietnam. Those screened out have the right to have their cases reviewed by an independent Refugee Status Review Board if they apply for review within 28 days of receiving notice of determination. Officials of the UNHCR are involved in monitoring the screening process and preparing appeals to the Review Board.

Since the introduction of screening in June 1988, 29 600 people have been screened, of whom 4 100 have been screened in as refugees and 25 500 have been screened out. At the appeal stage, in 9 600 cases involving 21 600 persons the first instance decision has been upheld and in 600 cases involving 1 700 people it has been reversed.

In order to try to relieve overcrowding and improve conditions in some of the existing detention centres, a new detention centre was constructed on Tai A Chau island in 1990, at a cost of HK$230 million (of which half was contributed by the United Kingdom Government). This centre was built with a design capacity for up to 10 000 Vietnamese and first came into operation in February 1991. Vietnamese in this centre are given an opportunity to participate in a more open lifestyle in the centre under the guidance of the camp management provided by the Hong Kong Housing Services for Refugees, a specialised non-profit-making agency set up in 1989 to manage the biggest open centre, the Pillar Point Vietnamese Refugees Centre in Tuen Mun. The government hopes that this style of management and the more relaxed atmosphere in the camp will lead to a reduction in tension and create a better environment for the Vietnamese population there. But the influx in 1991 almost immediately robbed the Tai A Chau project of one of its intended gains, namely a reduction in the degree of overcrowding in the other centres in Hong Kong. The arrival of 20 200 new asylum seekers, plus 1 600 births in the camps in 1991, ensured that by the end of the year the camps were even more crowded than at the start.

The resettlement of refugees went satisfactorily in 1991. During the year, 6 500 refugees were resettled overseas with Canada, the United States and Australia remaining the three major countries for resettlement. Since April 1991, new arrangements have been made whereby those who are newly screened in by the Hong Kong Government or given mandate refugee status by the UNHCR are transferred to a Regional Refugee Transit Centre in Bataan in the Philippines. In 1991, 2 047 refugees left Hong Kong for this centre, whose construction costs were fully funded by the United Kingdom Government, to await resettlement in a third country.