IT HAS, HOWEVER, BEEN ALLEGED THAT THE REFUGEES ARE BOURGEOIS DROPOUTS WHO CANNOT ADJUST TO THE NEW VIETNAMESE REALITY: THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE TO LEAVE: THAT THEY LEFT ILLEGALLY: THAT IT IS ALL THE CONSEQUENCE OF COLONIALISM OR A PLOT OF THE WESTERN CAPITALISTS AND THE CHINESE.
MR SECRETARY-GENERAL, THESE ARGUMENTS ARE HEARTLESS, MOREOVER, THEY ARE IRRELEVANT. IT IS NOT THE PRACTICE OF BRITISH MINISTERS TO COMMENT ON THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. BUT I AM BOUND TO WONDER WHAT LIES BEHIND THIS EXODUS, AND WHY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN PERHAPS AS MANY AS THE WHOLE POPULATION OF GENEVA HAVE DIED IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT, OR WOULD NOT, CONTINUE LIVING IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. THEY HAVE BEEN DRIVEN OUT BY NO NATURAL DISASTER. ONE CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT THEY HAVE LEFT BECAUSE THE POLICIES OF THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO REMAIN. AND THEIR FATE, CAUSED BY THE POLICIES OF THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT, IS NOW THE INTERNATIONAL CONCERN OF US ALL.
THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT IS NOW PROPOSING THAT ITS EXTREMELY LIMITED SEVEN-POINT UNDERSTANDING WITH THE UNHCR, TOTALLY INADEQUATE IN SCALE, SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED WHICH I TAKE TO MEAN FAMILY REUNION SHOULD BE EXPANDED TO PROVIDE FOR ORDERLY DEPARTURE OF ALL THOSE WHO WISH TO LEAVE VIETNAM. THIS IS A SUGGESTION THAT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WILL NEED TO STUDY WITH GREAT ATTENTION AND I HAVE AS OF NOW ONLY TWO COMMENTS. FIRST, VIETNAM MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NO COUNTRY HAS THE RIGHT TO FORCE ON OTHER COUNTRIES A SECTOR OF ITS OWN POPULATION WHICH IT NO LONGER WANTS WITHIN ITS BORDERS. ANY LONG-TERM PROGRAMME FOR THE ORDERLY DEPARTURE OF PEOPLE WHO WISH TO LEAVE VIETNAM MUST BE SEEN TO BE JUST AND FAIR. IT MUST BE . TRULY VOLUNTARY, WITH NO ELEMENT OF OPEN OR HIDDEN COMPULSION. THOSE WHO WISH TO LEAVE MUST BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THEIR NORMAL LIVES IN VIETNAM WHILE THEY AWAIT DEPARTURE. THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED FOR CAMPS IN VIETNAM. IF THEY LEAVE THERE MUST BE ARRANGEMENTS TO ENSURE THAT THEY DO SO IN NUMBERS AND AT TIMES WHICH THE REST OF THE WORLD CAN ABSORB.
SECONDLY, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WHICH IS TRYING TO LIFT THE BURDEN OF REFUGEES IN THE COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES OF FIRST ASYLUM MUST NOW EXPECT VIETNAM TO CEASE THE PRESSURES ON THOSE PEOPLE
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