Children condemned to life ‘imprisonment9

Press, 16 July 1986, Page 17

Children condemned to life ‘imprisonment 9

From

NICOLA PAZDZIERSKI

in Hong Kong

The real victims in the continuing tragic story of the Vietnamese boat people are the children. More than 5000 have been bom to refugees in Hong Kong since 1979 and many have had to grow up in what are virtual prison camps. To discourage further refugees, the Hong Kong Government has, since July, 1982, adopted a closed-camp policy where detainees live in minimal conditions of comfort and are cut off from the outside world. Since the policy was introduced, 673 babies have been bom in the closed camps where nearly half of Hong Kong’s 9000 Vietnamese refugees now live. Some Vietnamese have been waiting for the resettlement for seven years, but for these people and the new arrivals hopes of any kind of brave new world are diminishing. Most refugees now entering Hong Kong are uneducated peas-

ants and fishermen from the north. Western governments are reluctant to accept what they consider to be society’s economic cast-offs.

Hong Kong is looking to Britain to take a lead and increase its present offer of 500 places for refugees with relatives already in the country, but Britain says other countries must increase their quotas first Caught in the middle of this vicious political circle are the children living in the closed centres. They have the basic necessities of life — education, food and medical care — but little else.

The camps are Spartan, surrounded by barbed wire. The biggest closed centre, Hei Ling

Chau, is on an uninhabited island. A family is allocated an area the size of a double bed. Endless monotony and a total lack of privacy are the predominant features of life.

The parents’ frustration and desperation leads to feuds and many are on the road to separation. But divorces seldom go through, say camp welfare officials, who intercede in the cases.

Local organisations give toys for the children, but their fathers, denied such luxuries in their own childhood, play with them first One of the highlights of the youngsters’ lives is occasional day trips with volunteers. Copyright — London Observer Service.