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Dame Anne Warburton made the following points which may interest the
Sub-Committee:
i) it is regrettable that Vietnamese nationals still feel driven
to leave their country;
ii)
iii)
iv)
the increasing measure of co-operation from the Vietnamese
authorities is welcome;
given that the ODP was instituted for humanitarian reasons,
especially to facilitate family reunions, it is inconsistent
that the programme does not allow the departure of those whose relatives left by boat;
the programme should be extended to include those who are
currently, or who have been, in re-education camps.
Whether the UK should consider giving Economic Aid to Vietnam in
order to help stem the flow of Refugees?
(See para 164 of Home Office evidence)
The circumstances which led the Prime Minister to announce in
July 1979 the British Government's decision to cease aid to Vietnam
have not significantly changed. The Vietnamese Government's
political and economic policies continue to be repressive. Over
10,000 Vietnamese are still held without trial in re-education
camps. Vietnam continues to occupy Cambodia with a force of some
160,000 troops, and as you will be aware is currently launching an offensive of unprecedented ferocity. Our views, which we publicly expressed last year to the UN Human Rights Commission (copy of
statement attached), are generally shared by ASEAN and by other
Western countries and were endorsed publicly in the Joint Communique
which was issued after the EC/ASEAN Ministerial meeting in
Dublin last November. Given the scale of Vietnam's economic problems and their commitment to economic policies which show little
concern for the well-being of that population, any aid offered by us
would be unlikely to have any effect on the refugee flow.
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