HONG KONG: THE FIRST OF 4,000 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES ARE MOVED FROM CHOLERA-STRICKEN ISLAND OF TAI A CHAU

Record ID: 274840

  • Title: HONG KONG: THE FIRST OF 4,000 VIETNAMESE REFUGEES ARE MOVED FROM CHOLERA-STRICKEN ISLAND OF TAI A CHAU
  • Date: 10th September 1989
  • Summary: HONG KONG (SEPTEMBER 10, 1989) 1. GV, SV REFUGEES CROWDED TOGETHER ON TAI A CHAU ISLAND WITH POLICE GUARDIANS (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. SV ZOOM OUT, SVS, GV REFUGEES LEAVING ISLAND BY BOAT (4 SHOTS) 0.30 3. SV ZOOM OUT REFUGEES DISEMBARK AT HEI LING CHAU ISLAND 0.36 4. SV PAN, GV, SV ZOOM OUT REFUGEES CROWDED ON TAI A CHAU ISLAND (3 SHOTS) 0.58 5. SCU ALFRED DUBS SPEAKING
  • Embargoed: 25th September 1989 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HONG KONG
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3ZK16ON02NO7KWJ2PTFHGAD0Z
  • Story Text: HONG KONG

    An operation to move 4,000 Vietnamese refugees from an island stricken by cholera in Hong Kong began on Sunday.The Hong Kong government has had no alternative but to treat all refugees and their police guardians as cholera suspects.

    The Vietnamese boat people were transferred from Tai A Chau to another island by military landing craft a day ahead of schedule because of a warning of a storm and rough seas.They were taken to Hei Ling Chau from the squalid living conditions of Tai A Chau island as the Hong Kong government struggled to cope with the biggest influx of Vietnamese boat people for 10 years.

    The government is already separating those refugees they believe are in genuine flight from persecution from those in search of a better life.

    Alfred Dubs of the British Council for Refugees described conditions on the island of Tai a Chao Island as appalling.He said the people had not enough food or water and there was no sanitation.

    Drivers of coaches and trucks on the Hong Kong mainland demonstrated on Sunday for the compulsory evacuation of all the Vietnamese refugees.The Hong Kong government shares this goal but will not repatriate the refugees without assurances from Hanoi that measures will not be taken against them.

    <strong>Source: REUTERS - GARY LING</strong>
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register