Hong Kong Puts 549 Refugees in Prison
- Share via
HONG KONG — Authorities transferred 549 Vietnamese refugees to a Hong Kong prison Wednesday pending deportation, denying allegations that the jail would be dangerously overcrowded.
“The management of Victoria Prison can actually comfortably accommodate that,” Dickie Chan, chief superintendent for prisons, told government radio. “For example, if a cell usually has one fiberglass bed, in order to accommodate them, we will put a double-tier bunk there.”
The group Refugee Concern had warned that placing so many Vietnamese in the prison would be inhumane.
The refugees were transferred from a detention center under heavy security. Unlike some previous transfers, the operation prompted no major disturbance.
About 19,000 Vietnamese remain in Hong Kong camps, and there have been violent protests to stave off repatriation. All but a handful of inmates have been classified economic migrants with no right to refugee status and are being sent home.
China has insisted that Hong Kong clear its refugee camps before the mid-1997 hand-over from British control.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
