ENG-1997 — Page 492

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION

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Conference held in June 1989. The CPA provides that while those Vietnamese migrants who are classified as refugees under the terms of the 1951 United Nations Convention and 1967 Protocol are eligible for resettlement, those who are found not to be refugees should return to Vietnam. Screening of Vietnamese migrants was effectively completed in October 1994.

In March 1996, the Seventh and last Steering Committee of the International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees met in Geneva. It was agreed that the CPA should end on June 30, 1996. In the case of Hong Kong, which then held half of the Vietnamese migrant population in South-East Asia, it was agreed that the problem should be resolved as soon as possible thereafter.

The repatriation of screened-out non-refugees to Vietnam has been effected through two separate but parallel programmes, namely, the voluntary repatriation (Volrep) programme operated by the UNHCR and the Orderly Repatriation Programme (ORP). In 1997, 3 368 persons returned to Vietnam under Volrep - bringing the total number of Vietnamese migrants repatriated under this programme to 57 344 since its inception in 1989.

During the year, ORP operations were by and large smooth and trouble-free. As part of the standing arrangement, all these operations were observed by independent monitors, whose reports are published in full. In 1997, 1 144 Vietnamese migrants were repatriated under the programme, bringing to 9 702 the total number returned to Vietnam under the ORP since its introduction in 1991.

The Volrep programme is the preferred means of repatriation. The UNHCR announced in May 1997 a final deadline for joining Volrep. All Vietnamese migrants determined as non-refugees in Hong Kong were given the last chance to join the programme before the deadline of May 23, 1997.

As the number of migrants declined, the government closed the Whitehead Detention Centre in June and the Kai Tak Vietnamese Migrant Transit Centre was closed at the end of March, leaving High Island as the only Detention Centre for Vietnamese migrants and illegal immigrants.

Migrants returning to Vietnam are assured that they may do so safely and without fear of persecution. The Vietnamese Government has given guarantees that no returnees will be persecuted. Returnees are also closely monitored in Vietnam by the UNHCR to ensure that these guarantees are fully respected. Since March 1989, more than 67 000 Vietnamese migrants have returned home from Hong Kong and there has not been a single substantiated case of persecution.

The HKSARG and the international community recognise that while the economy in Vietnam has been improving gradually, returnees may have difficulties in re- establishing themselves on their return. The UNHCR therefore provides financial assistance to help returnees resume their normal lives in Vietnam. The returnee assistance programme run by the European Community in Vietnam has also offered returnees financial assistance in various areas. Hong Kong has also contributed to some small-scale infrastructural projects in the poorer migrant-producing areas in Vietnam. The total amount contributed by the government was near $25 million.

The UNHCR is responsible for the costs of the care and maintenance of Vietnamese migrants but for 1997 could meet only $4 million out of the $20 million incurred, bringing to $1.16 billion its accumulated debt to Hong Kong since 1989.