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9 Squatter Resettlement [T]he Governor had called a meeting at Government House … on Boxing Day … I was able to tell the … gathering that it would be impossible … to try to build temporary shelter for some sixty thousand people. The Governor … then turned to the Director of Public Works and asked him to make proposals for some permanent shelter. So the momentous step was taken for the government itself to build something for the fire victims.1 Denis Bray2 The Shek Kip Mei fire on Christmas Day 1953 left upwards of 60,000 people homeless. Four months later, a decision had been taken to resettle them into permanent multi-storey accommodation provided at public expense. Within a year, it had become government policy to rehouse all cleared squatters in this manner. This marked a major shift in policy. Prior to this, the Hong Kong government had never seriously contemplated the provision of permanent subsidised housing for squatters . Sites for temporary resettlement had been provided which allowed squatters to erect their own huts. How had this decision been taken? Did the Hong Kong government have to seek the Secretary of State’s approval or rely upon him for advice, direction or resources? Did the Hong Kong government have the capacity to formulate and implement such a programme on its own and, if so, how did this capacity develop? What influence did the unofficials in the Legislative and Urban Councils have on this decision? Was this a step forward taken by the Hong Kong government in the exercise of autonomy? The development of the Hong Kong government’s squatter resettlement policy from 1948 will be examined in this chapter. It will assess the government’s ability to formulate and to implement this policy and will consider how it reinforced the government’s authority and reputation for effectiveness. It will then examine how, because of the policy’s unintended consequences, and in the face of a sudden ten-fold increase in squatter numbers, the Hong Kong government quickly reviewed it. 164 Governors, Politics and the Colonial Office Government’s inability, however, to implement this new policy effectively , the increasing involvement of unofficials in the policy making process and the impact of the Shek Kip Mai fire are then reviewed. Finally, this chapter examines the effectiveness with which the policy of permanent resettlement was implemented and what impact this had on the development of the Hong Kong government’s autonomy. Early policy development Influxes of migrants were not new to Hong Kong. Traditionally, better economic prospects in Hong Kong attracted migrants looking for work and, conversely, improving economic conditions in China attracted them back again.3 There had been a major influx of squatters in 1938 when large numbers of refugees entered Hong Kong to escape the depredations of the Japanese. They had posed a major problem and relief efforts were organised by the Hong Kong government.4 Many only left Hong Kong when the Japanese restricted rice supplies during the occupation. The population then dropped from about 1.6 million in 1941 to an estimated 600,000 by August 1945. By the end of 1946, it was estimated to have risen back to 1.6 million and to 1.8 million by December 1947.5 Squatters were not seen as a major problem in the years immediately following 1945. The number of squatters in the main urban area was comparatively small in 1948.6 The issue was not considered sufficiently pressing by unofficials to raise it in the Legislative Council even though squatter areas posed problems to the authorities. The Hong Kong Police considered them to be centres of gambling and prostitution and places where criminals could seek refuge almost with impunity. Normal policing methods did not work and the police felt that the only effective measure was their total removal.7 The removal of illegal squatters became a politically sensitive issue in 1948 during an attempted clearance of squatters from the Kowloon Walled City. Under the Convention of Peking, 1898, Britain had leased the New Territories from China for 99 years. Although the Kowloon Walled City was to remain under Chinese jurisdiction, Britain abrogated this provision shortly after it came into effect. This, however, was never recognised by China. During their occupation, the Japanese demolished the walls to extend the runway at the airport and the area was subsequently occupied by squatters. The Hong Kong government wanted to remove them because Grantham wished to revive a pre-war scheme to turn the...

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