CONFIDENTIAL
COLUMN IN SOUTH EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES, PLEASE SEE PARA 11 OF MY DESPATCH OF 9 FEBRUARY, ''CAMBODIA AND AFTER''. 1 CAN CONFIRM THAT PARTY CADRES ARE STILL BEING
SYSTEMATICALLY PUT INTO BOATLOADS OF REFUGEES.
2. THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL POINTS ARE SOMETIMES MADE BY VIETNAMESE MINISTERS OR BY THIRD COUNTRY APOLOGISTS FOR THEIR POLICIES. YOU MAY WISH TO HAVE SOME
BRIEF COMMENTS.
A) ''VIETNAM HAS BEEN CRITICISED PREVIOUSLY FOR NOT LETTING PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR COUNTRY: NOW SHE IS CRITICISED
FOR LETTING THEM GO''.
COMMENT.
APART FROM THE GENERAL CRITICISM OF AN EXIT VISA SYSTEM AS SUCH, CRITICISM OF VIETNAM IN THE PAST FOR NOT LETTING PEOPLE LEAVE THE COUNTRY HAS BEEN WELL JUSTIFIED BY THOUSANDS OF FAMILY REUNION AND HUMANITARIAN CASES WHICH MANY COUNTRIES HAVE TAKEN UP IN VAIN. PRESENT CRITICISM IS NOT THAT VIETNAM IS LETTING PEOPLE GO, BUT IS AIMED AT THE FACT THAT VIETNAM HAS CREATED CONDITIONS IN WHICH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS HAVE FLED THE COUNTRY IN THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS, THAT SHE IS NOT JUST LETING THEM GO BUT IS ACTIVELY PUSHING THEM OUT, AND THAT SHE IS MAKING A FINANCIAL PROFIT FROM THE HUMAN MISERY. THAT SAID, SHE IS STILL NOT
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ALLOWING THOUSANDS OF DESERVING FAMILY REUNION CASES TO GO, WHICH IS WHY UNHCR HAVE NOW UNDERTAKEN A FAMILY REUNION
SCHEME.
(B) ''THE REFUGEES ARE LEAVING BECAUSE THEY ARE THE
PRODUCT OF PAST DECADENCE IN SOUTH VIETNAM AND CANNOT TAKE
THE HARD LIFE OF THE NEW REGIME, AND BECAUSE THEY ARE CAPITALISTS WHO CANNOT OR WILL NOT FIT INTO COMMUNIST SOCIETY''
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/ COMMENT.