:
1
2 -
#
racialist policy should be quite unacceptable to the
international community.
But as
now well established from reports by refugees
themselves the Vietnamese Government is engaged in organising
the exodus in small and large boats and in systemically
depriving the refugees of their belongings before their
departure. One hears of an accepted tariff of £1500 payable
in gold for an adult for an exit permit, and half price for a chil
Further payments are exacted for permission to board a boat
for the perilous journey across the South China Sea:
we know
of cases of payments to the Vietnamese Government of over a
quarter of a million pounds in gold for a party of 300 people
in a small boat. The large boat parties are often arranged by
unscrupulous Asian businessmen working in connivance with the
Vietnamese Government. Further substantial payments are
also demanded by the boat owner. The gold is bought through
official channels with foreign exchange sent from abroad.
The money acquired by the Vietnamese Government from this cruel
system must be one of its largest sources
of its largest sources of foreign exchange.
We do not know for certain how many of the unfortunate
victims perish in unseaworthy and overloaded boats. But the
survival rate is variously estimated at between 50 and 30 percent.
Only a major international effort can cope with the
problem.
The Government have been in touch with the United
Nations Secretary-General who himself has expressed grave
/concern