Hong Kong trying to halt flow of Chinese children

December 1, 1981

Hong Kong has stepped up security along its border with China to halt a new flow of illegal immigrants, mostly children under 12, police say. Many parents, themselves recent arrivals in Hong Kong, have paid criminals to smuggle in their children since October 1980, when the government began returning all illegal immigrants to China. Police knew of 69 children smuggled in during the past month and a further 1,148 who had applied for immigration between Oct. 1 and Nov. 19.