subsequently that his government was considering making an island near
Pulau Natuna (Indonesia's northernmost island in the South China Sea)
available for the temporary resettlement of Vietnamese refugees. He said
that they would be given temporary shelter provided that certain conditions
one of them being the offer of firm guarantees of permanent
were met
resettlement by Third countries.
Following representations by a number of Western countries, a team
of experts from the UNHCR, led by Deputy Commissioner de Haan, is visiting
Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia from the end of February to mid-March to
assess the situation and to discuss the control of refugees.
Lord Goronwy-Roberts revealed in the House of Lords on 19 February
that the British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Dr Owen, had recently
expressed concern to the Vietnamese Ambassador in London about reports of
the organised traffic of refugees, and the human rights situation in
Vietnam. The Vietnamese Government have said that they will cooperate with
the UNHCR, in taking measures to allow those Vietnamese who wish to do so
to leave Vietnam in an orderly fashion. Lord Goronwy-Roberts said in
parliament that it remained to be seen whether the statement represented a
genuine change of heart and if so, how it will work out in practice.
United Kingdom and other offers
The British Government has reminded masters of British ships of their
obligation to pick up people in distress at sea and has accepted ultimate
responsibility for all refugees rescued by UK-registered ships if they cannot
be resettled elsewhere. But Britain is unable to absorb large numbers of
refugees because of her special commitments to accept families of Commonwealth
immigrants and British passport-holders from East Africa. As a contribution
to encouraging a wider international response to the problem, however, the
British Government has agreed to admit 1,500 Vietnamese refugees in addition
to the 1,108 already granted entry. of the new ones 1,000 will be drawn
}
Q