Vietnamese Boat People (Hansard, 24 July 1990)

§ Mr. Janner
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement regarding overcrowding in the detention centres for Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
The 10 detention centres in Hong Kong have a combined design capacity of 45,000 places. Their current population is 44,200. A new purpose-built detention centre at Tai a Chau will be completed later this year, making available an additional 10,000 places. This will enable the Hong Kong Government to close some of the smaller existing centres, further reduce the populations in the main detention centres, and make more accommodation available to UNHCR and the voluntary agencies to enable them to expand their programme of services.

§ Mr. Janner
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement regarding the treatment of communicable diseases in the detention centres for Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
The majority of patients suffering from communicable diseases are admitted to the infectious disease unit of the Princess Margaret hospital. In 1988 there were 1,491 cases, the majority of which were chicken pox. In 1989 there were 2,583 cases, 20 per cent. of the total number of notifiable diseases reported in Hong Kong. This increase is explained by the arrival of over 34,000 boat people in Hong Kong during that year. Of these cases, 1,271 were chicken pox, 149 dysentery, 685 malaria, 83 measles, 226 tuberculosis, 120 viral hepatitis and 23 cholera.

§ Mr. Janner
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement regarding current living conditions in each of the detention centres for Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
Living conditions in the detention centres have steadily improved as new purpose-built accommodation has become available.
Considerable progress has been made in expanding the voluntary agency programmes which cover education, medical care, family planning and excursions for children.
Water supplies are more than adequate, per capita consumption being well above the average for Hong Kong. Food is prepared in central kitchens in each centre by Vietnamese workers, using dietary scales drawn up in conjunction with the UNHCR. Sanitary conditions are satisfactory and have improved with the reduction in overcrowding and as boat people become more familiar with the facilities.