HK Marks Closure of World's Last Vietnamese Refugee CenterA block at Hong Kong's Pillar Point Vietnamese Refugees Center, the world's last Vietnamese refugee center, was razed to the ground on Monday, signifying the formal end of the Vietnamese boat people saga.The closure of the center "not only marks the end of one of the 20th Century's greatest migration challenges, but also the beginning of a new era for the Vietnamese in Hong Kong to build a new life," said Secretary for Security Regina Ip at the closure ceremony. She thanked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, governments of all donor and resettlement countries, various international agencies and non-governmental organizations for helping settle the Vietnamese. Immense efforts and resources have been given to the Vietnamese boat people stranded in Hong Kong. More than 8.71 billion HK dollars (1.11 billion U.S. dollars) have been spent to house and feed them since 1979, said Ip. Since the Hong Kong SAR government's announcement of a Widened Local Resettlement Scheme (WLRS) in February, some 1,400 remaining Vietnamese have been moving out of the camps and integrating into the Hong Kong society, and the world's last Vietnamese refugee center, the PPVRC, was formally closed last month. |
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