Gallery 6

Vietnamese Boat People

In 1975, the US troops retreated from Vietnam and Vietnam was reunified. The new Vietnamese communist government was under a transitional period and its policies were biased and confusing. On the economic front, the reunited Vietnam was in chaos with extremely poor living conditions. Having no trust in their government and living in poverty, many Vietnamese fled the country. They spent all their savings for boarding worn-out boats to cross the angry sea, in the hope of evading political instability and seeking a better life.

The problem of Vietnamese boat people first emerged in Hong Kong on 4 May 1975 when the cargo ship Clara Maersk brought 3 743 refugees to Hong Kong. Later in 1978, the cargo vessel Huey Fong brought 3 300 refugees to Hong Kong, and the Skyluck arrived with another 2 651 people on board in 1979. Large-scale and planned influx of refugees continued. Given its humanitarian policy, the Hong Kong Government signed the international covenant and became the “port of first asylum”, allowing these Vietnamese refugees to land for temporary stay. Assistance was also offered to help them resettle in other countries. Since then, despite its small size, Hong Kong had to cope with the massive influx of Vietnamese refugees.

In order to better receive and manage the huge number of refugees, starting from 1979, the Government assigned the Correctional Services Department (CSD) (the then Prisons Department) to temporarily manage Vietnamese refugees arriving in Hong Kong. In the following years, amid a huge surge of refugees, the CSD also had to handle a large number of illegal immigrants from Mainland China. Despite facing extremely tight manpower and resource constraints, in order to meet the actual need for maintaining social stability, the CSD utilised many correctional institutions to receive Vietnamese refugees and other illegal immigrants. Inside these institutions, apart from the basic accommodation and bare necessities, the CSD also provided the refugees with physical examination and medical services. Besides, the Department collaborated with other voluntary organisations to provide refugees stranded in Hong Kong with services to meet their physical and mental needs such as education for children, entertainment, counselling and religious services, etc.

In mid-June 1988, the Hong Kong Government implemented a new screening policy to curb the continued influx of Vietnamese boat people who were non-refugees. Under the new policy, all closed camps were shut down. The new mission of the CSD was to take charge of a number of detention centres for Vietnamese boat people, including Chi Ma Wan Detention Centre, Hei Ling Chau Detention Centre, Nei Kwu Detention Centre, Whitehead Detention Centre, High Island Detention Centre, Green Island Reception Centre, Cape Collinson Detention Centre and Sham Shui Po Detention Centre, etc. The Vietnamese inside the detention centres were awaiting to undergo the screening procedure. Those who were screened as non-refugees belonged to the category of Vietnamese boat people and had to wait for repatriation inside the detention centres. Apart from operating the detention centres, the CSD was also responsible for providing various services such as educational programmes and work plans for the boat people. These services continued until May 1998 when the Department closed High Island Detention Centre, the last detention centre for Vietnamese boat people.