138
PS 760-
3
ONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
七大
HKK 243/1
RECOVER
FM KUALA LUMPUR 170930Z JAN 79
OFFCLI
TO ROUTINE FCO
PA
on Titan
TELEGRAM NUMBER 41 OF 17 JANAURY 1979
по
hali 28.
AND TO ROUTINE BANGKOK JAKARTA MANILA
GOV HONGKONG
NEW YORK WASHINGTON AND
PARIS
Sea (257
อ
MY TEL NO 32: VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
1. ON TUESDAY 16 JANUARY, THE DAY AFTER HUSSEIN ONN'S STATEMENT IN TRENGGANU, THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS GAVE A SPECIAL RADIO INTERVIEW ON THE PROBLEM OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES.
2. TAN SRI GHAZALI SHAFIE INDENTIFIED THREE MAIN PROBLEMS : (A) MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM BY MANY ORDINARY MALAYSIANS WHO BELIEVED THAT ALL THE BOAT PEOPLE WERE COMMUNISTS AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS ENEMIES. AS IT WAS, SINCE MALAYSIA REGARDED THEM AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THE GOVERNMENT HAD NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO QUOTE SHOO, NOT TO SHOOT THEM OFF UNQUOTE.
(B) MALAYSIA COULD BECOME THE RECIPIENT OF BOAT PEOPLE TURNED AWAY BY OTHER ASEAN COUNTRIES. IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT THE PROBLEM SHOULD NOT BE A CAUSE OF ACCRIMONY AMONGST THE MEMBERS OF ASEAN HENCE THE COMMON STAND ADOPTED BY ASEAN FOREIGN MINISTERS AT THEIR MEETING IN BANGKOK ON 12 AND 13 JANUARY.
(C) THE ATTITUDE OF THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT ON ONE HAND AND OF WESTERN GOVERNMENTS ON THE OTHER. VIETNAM, WHILE DECLARING HER NEED FOR THE FRIENDSHIP OF HER NEIGHBOURS WAS INSENSITIVE TO THEIR WELL BEING. UNLESS THAT ATTITUDE CHANGED THEN THE WORLD COULD EXPECT ANOTHER 500,000 REFUGEES IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. WESTERN COUNTRIES WERE BEING DISHONEST SINCE THEY DID NOT TREAT BOAT PEOPLE AS REFUGEES BUT AS ORDINARY IMMIGRANTS SELECTING THE BEST AND LEAVING MALAYSIA WITH THE RESIDUE. UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW MALAYSIA WAS ENTITLED TO RE-PATRIATE THESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. IF HANOI REFUSED TO ACCEPT THEM BACK AND THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED ELSE WHERE QUOTE THEN THEY MUST ROT IN OUR ENCLOSED CAMPS UNQUOTE. IN THE MEANTIME THE GOVERNMENT WOULD CONTINUE TO PRICK THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WESTERN COUNTRIES FOR THEIR QUOTE SIREN SONG OF HUMAN RIGHTS UNQUOTE WHICH WAS CAUSING SO MUCH MISERY.
CONFIDENTIAL
13. GHRRALI