WORLD : Hong Kong Threatens to Suspend Asylum for Vietnam Boat People
HONG KONG — The Hong Kong government threatened today to suspend asylum for Vietnamese boat people unless other countries help end an overwhelming flood of refugee arrivals.
Secretary for Security Geoffrey Barnes said he hopes that an international conference on refugees meeting in Geneva next week will help resolve the problem. If not, he said, the government will consider more “radical alternatives.”
Barnes said the exodus from Vietnam, which Monday alone brought an unprecedented 1,194 boat people to the British colony’s shores, has swollen refugee camps to the bursting point. There are a total of 41,958 Vietnamese in 11 refugee camps and detention centers.
“The pressure on Hong Kong has got to be removed and removed quickly,” he said.
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