SETTLING IN SINGAPORE OF REFUGEES FLEEING FROM CHINA TO HONGKONG

Mr David Marshall asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether Government will consider settling in Singapore some of the refugees who have recently fled from China to Hongkong.

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Government views with sympathy the hardship of the refugees who have recently fled from China to Hongkong, just as we sympathise with the Arab refugees who fled From Israel to Jordan and neighbouring territories.

An hon. Member: Hear, hear!

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Sympathy, however, does not alter the limited position of Singapore in terms of space and population nor the enormous size of the problem which faces Hongkong and which has led the Colonial Secretary of Hongkong to state recently that emigration is not a realistic solution to the Hongkong refugee problem. The Government does not consider allowing refugees to come into Singapore as immigrants as a practical solution, either in the context of Singapore or in the context of the countries where the refugees have come from.

Mr David Marshall: Are our sympathies then to remain of zero value and no concrete solution at all is to be found to assist these people?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, we have open trade with Hongkong. There is no restriction on the importation of Hongkong goods and I think that, more than immigration, could contribute to the solution of Hongkong's problem.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Could the Minister inform us if any of those refugees have applied to Singapore for admission?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, none has been received.