WORLD : Boat People Fight in Hong Kong
Masked Vietnamese wielding homemade spears battled tear-gas-firing security personnel today at a camp for boat people. Authorities said at least 16 people were injured, including three security officers.
The fight at Whitehead Detention Center broke out as corrections officers conducted a sweep for weapons, a government spokesman said. He said between 40 and 50 masked boat people were involved.
Tensions are on the rise in Hong Kong’s squalid detention centers for boat people, temporary homes for thousands of Vietnamese who fled their homeland only to face the likelihood of repatriation.
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