FINDING work will be the toughest challenge facing boat people and re-settlement agencies if thousands return in the wake of this week's Geneva conference.
Any surge in the number of returnees will put strain on an already tight job market - unemployment rates in many rural districts are as high as 20 per cent.
'We try our very best to find work for these people, but we know at the end of the day many returnees won't get work,' said one re-settlement official in the northern port city of Haiphong, where the bulk of Hong Kong returnees will go.
'It's not just that the jobs aren't there, but many returnees' skills are out of date and many who have been in the camps for years simply don't want work or don't know how to work any longer. It is just fortunate in Vietnam that the family unit is so strong they can be looked after.' Haiphong is home to several factory and training projects sponsored by the British Embassy through the Hong Kong Government. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation officer Goran Rosen said that despite an array of vocational training schemes, and work and infrastructure projects from outside agencies, many would miss out.
'As more and more start to come back, it's going to be vital they face up to the fact that life here and getting a job is not going to be easy . . . there is going to be a long struggle for many,' he said.
'I believe, however, that for many they are coming back to villages and towns that are far better off than when they left. There are now roads and water and power, which means things like karaoke bars and all that goes with it.' Carlos Zaccagnini, the UNHCR's deputy representative, said his biggest concern was the successful repatriation of 3,600 people, including 1,800 from Hong Kong, as agreed at the Sixth Steering Committee of the International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in Geneva this week.
