a fair and just way, of replacing the probability of death on
the South China Sea with an internationally supervised
-
all of
pro ess of orderly departure from Vietnam for those
those who want to leave spread over a period of years
which will allow the other countries of the world to absorb
them humanely into their own societies.
Secondly, and, in spite of the burdens under which the
countries of first asylum are suffering, we must restore the
inviolability of the principle of first asylum both for land
and sea refugees, and the linked concept of the automatic
acceptance into temporary asylum by the state of the first
scheduled port of call of refugees rescued by ships passing
through the area. This clearly means further development of
the concept of large transit centres, as well as of certain
ideas put forward by members of the Association of South-East
Asian Nations. Such centres must be open to all refugees on
a fair and non-discriminatory basis.
The
Thirdly, we must spread the load of resettlement.
burden of final resettlement has been assumed mainly by two
countries with deep historic involvements in Indo-China and
by the Peoples' Republic of China. Only four countries have
taken nearly 95% of those who have left the countries of
first asylum for final resettlement.
My own Government's
new commitment is designed to play a full part in that, but
others can and must do more. We must also find ways of
creating a coherent programme for resettlement in
developing countries inside the region and beyond, who need
financial and other assistance to provide homes and a
livelihood for significant numbers of refugees. And we must
ensure that the countries and territories of first asylum
/are