HONG KONG: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES MARRY TO STAY IN COLONY

(23 Feb 1996) Cantonese/Nat Vietnamese boat people detained in Hong Kong- facing the near inevitable prospect of being sent back - have found a new and legal way of staying in the colony. They are getting married to Hong Kong citizens. Since Hong Kong introduced a voluntary repatriation scheme in 1989, more than 45 thousand people have been sent back to Vietnam. For a boat person, getting married to a local is the only way of guaranteeing that they wont be added to the total. Whitehead Detention Centre, Hong Kong's largest Vietnamese camp for more than 20 thousand boat people. The atmosphere is prison like. Detainees rarely have contact with people outside the camp. But today five Vietnamese women are being allowed out - to get married. They are marrying Hong Kong men who they've known for just a few months. Dressed in flowing white dresses, the brides are taken to the Sha Tin marriage registry office by a Correctional Services department truck. So far only women who have managed to get a "wedding ticket" out of the camp. No Vietnamese men have married local women. At the Sha Tin registry, they were reunited with their husbands-to-be, and for the first time, met their future in-laws. For these brides, love does not play a part. Marrying is their only legal way to get out of the detention centre. Twenty six year old Dang Minh Thuy has lived in the centre for seven years. SOUNDBITE: (Vietnamese) If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to stay in Hong Kong. But I had a friend help me marry a Hong Kong man. At least that way I could get out of the jail I was staying in. SUPERCAPTION: Dang Minh Thuy, bride She admits she has no affection for her husband. Mr Hung, however, is happy to be marrying. He plans to introduce his friends to his bride's female detainee friends. SOUNDBITE: (Cantonese) Vietnamese detainees don't have very high standards, and hardly any demands. In fact their standards are very low. If their requirements were too high, it wouldn't be right for me. Because we're just ordinary working men. If their standards were too high it wouldn't suit me. SUPERCAPTION: Hung Hing Biu, Hong Kong groom Mr Hung doesn't speak any Vietnamese, and his wife knows only a few words of Cantonese. After the group wedding, it was time for photographs. The newly weds cherishing every moment, for almost immediately after the wedding the brides were loaded back into the truck and taken back to the detention centre. They have to remain at the camp for another six months before they are allowed to live with their husbands. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...