THIS IS A COPY THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN CLOSED UNDER FOI EXEMPTION NO...27(1)
DSR 11C
CONFIDENTIAL
Singapore
the difficulties of flight out of the Indochinese
countries. The 1979 conference sought to ensure that the
Vietnamese government ceased to encourage the departure
of the "boat people" and took other measures to restrict
outflows. The Thai government introduced a policy of
"humane deterrence", under which new arrivals were placed
in camps to which UNHCR and resettlement agencies had no
access, and from which people became eligible for
resettlement only after a given period.
introduced a policy of refusing entry to all except ship
rescue cases in 1979. Brunei also refused entry.
Malaysia, Singaport and Brunei have towed refugee boats.
back out to sea and the occupants of at least one small
The boat force away from Singapore were drowned.
authorities in South China and Macao have been turning
away refugee boats for a number of years. The Hong Kong
government introduced its system of closed camps in 1982
as a humane measure to deter asylum-seekers from making
for Hong Kong. This was coupled with a policy of
offering boat arrivals the option of taking on fresh
supplies and continuing their journey.
Thailand is reported to have pushed
illegal entrants from Laos back across the border on a
number of occasions. It has given assurances on a number
of occasions that its displaced persons from Cambodia
would not be sent back involuntarily. The Thai
government has nevertheless announced the intention of
CONFIDENTIAL