:
12.
Par ularly does this apply to the Asian area. In a world
increasingly focussing on the use and sharing of resources, the
ramifications of this situation need. no elaboration.
Australia, as a comparatively wealthy country depending
largely on immigration to provide a major population input in our
social and economic progress, has always been a haven for people in
distress as well as a country of promise for those more fortunate,
seeking to improve the quality of their own lives as well as those
of their children.
We tend to see movements of people in stark terms. Either
all those leaving are refugees or they are not. The reality is
often complex and it is virtually impossible to develop a straight-
forward response that will reduce the problem presented by a mass
exodus to a single simple issue for decision.
Let us look at the present outflow from Vietnam.
There
are several streams of people leaving. There is a small number
leaving by air, usually reaching Bangkok, who have exit permits and
are travelling with documentation as part of a normal migration
stream. We have received some hundreds of people in this way in
Australia.
There have been others who have suffered persecution in
terms set down in the International Convention and Protocol
Relating to the Status of Refugees who escaped in fear of their
lives. Such people continue to leave the country in large numbers.
In some instances they have escaped after being imprisoned or having
been compelled to travel to the new economic zones. In some
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