1986 CCSDFT ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON INDOCHINESE DISPLACED PERSONS IN THAILAND
Statement by Mr Lacy Wright
Counselor for Refugee and Migration Affairs
Embassy of the United States of America
It
with
are at a
has become commonplace to say that we who are concerned
the flight of Indochinese from their homelands
crossroads. It is true. We are at the point where, if we
with the Indochinese refugee
continue to cope
successfully
J
problem, we must begin to do things differently.
are to
Not that until now we have done things badly. The Royal Thai
Government over the past 11 years has played host to hundreds of
thousands of
Indochinese,
The international
saving them from persecution
organisations
and,
and
in some cases, death.
voluntary agencies have worked with dedication and great
to care for these people on Thai soil and to
effectiveness
solutions for many of them.
their doors to the refugees,
permanent
find
Our various countries have opened
welcoming 536,000 of them for
The result of
Dur
common
resettlement since 1975.
efforts has been a historic humanitarian achievement, of which we
are all proud. Conditions, however,
are changing. Because of
social,
countries,
financial
in pressures
receiving
and demographic
Indochinese resettlement abroad has become more
difficult. Moreover,
there is the growing feeling that many of
those currently escaping Indochina are` fleeing conditions of
poverty and hopelessness, or trying to rejoin families abroad,
rather
Finally, there is
than fleeing
persecution.
the