Hong Kong to close last vietnamese refugee camp
HONG KONG - Hong Kong will close its last refugee
camp for Vietnamese boatpeople on Wednesday, ending a 25-year saga that
followed the Vietnam War.
The Pillar Point Vietnamese Refugee Center will close at midnight, the last camp
for the remnants of 200,000 boatpeople who fled to Hong Kong after the
communist victory in 1975.
"The government is determined to shut the camp. It will resolve the matter lawfully
and reasonably," Chief Staff Officer of the Civil Aid Service, Robert Chan, told
reporters.
He said some refugees would be allowed to stay a while longer during a grace
period to organize their departure but the camp would officially close at midnight.
About 190 people were still inside the camp and Chan said "those who plan to
move out or are arranging to move, we will allow them to stay after tonight."
Families on Wednesday were loading refrigerators, washing machines, televisions,
cabinets, mattresses and other belongings onto trucks and preparing to leave.
Some refugees have said they will not leave, fearful of life in the local community.
Three banners with red letters were raised at the entrance of the camp.
"HK government please give us a small place to live," one said. "We need a place
for living," another read.
Some refugees fearful of life outside camp
Luong Tsi Lan, 29, the mother of a little girl, said she hoped the government would
give them more money. She said her construction worker husband had not worked
for the past month.
In February, Hong Kong gave almost 2,000 remaining refugees - many had been
denied residency elsewhere because of criminal records - the right to become
Hong Kong residents and said it would close Pillar Point by the end of May.
One refugee, Nguyen Vanpoan, told Reuters he would stay outside the gates until
the government helped him.
"Where can I go? I will sleep outside the camp because I have nowhere to go. I
will stay until the government gives me help," he said.
Nguyen said he has not received any compensation for moving, even though a
family of three should be entitled to a lump sum of HK$7,900 (US$1,014).
He said with only a part-time job, a child and a wife who is seven months
pregnant, he could not afford to go.
Illegal trespassers
Deputy Secretary for Security Timothy Tong said this week the refugees would be
considered trespassers at Pillar Point after Wednesday, but he did not say whether
the government would forcibly remove them.
"It would be very unwise of them not to leave...If there are people who create
disorder by whatever means, the policy is very clear. To maintain order is
absolutely necessary," he said.
There were half a dozen police officers and the usual security guards standing
outside Pillar Point on Wednesday.
Nguyen said some people were planning to hold a protest march to Hong Kong
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's office later this evening.
The refugee camps have been the scene of riots and gang fights over the years and
many Hong Kong residents have lost sympathy for the plight of the Vietnamese.
The former British colonial government declared Hong Kong the first port of
asylum for the Vietnamese in 1979 and had opened 20 camps for them.
Reuters - June 1st, 2000.
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