6
22
The Foreign Ministers expressed their appreciation to the United Nations Secretary-General and his Special Representative, Mr. S.A.M.S. Kibria, for their role in helping to alleviate the plight of Indochinese refugees and displaced persons. They also commended the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for his on-going efforts
to resolve the problem.
23
The Foreign Ministers reaffirmed that the ASEAN countries will
continue to deal with the refugee situation in accordance with the
humanitarian, social and cultural traditions of the ASEAN countries.
They stressed that the application of these principles will have also to
take into account the national security and other interests of the ASEAN
countries. They called for greater mobilization of efforts and
resources on the part of the international community to deal with the
problem on the basis of
of international burden-sharing. The Foreign
Ministers were of the view that thirteen years after the end of the
Vietnam War, the root causes of the refugee problem in South-East Asia
still have not been effectively dealt with and thus more innovative and
effective strategies will have Co be developed to deal with the
continuing refugee problem. In this regard, the Foreign Ministers
reiterated their call for the convening of an international conference
on Indochinese refugees under the auspices of the United Nations
Secretary-General.
THIRD ASEAN SUMMIT
24
The Foreign Ministers expressed satisfaction that the
successful outcome of the Third Meeting of the ASEAN Heads of Government
in Manila in December 1987 has provided new directions to incensify and
accelerate political, economic, sccial and cultural cooperation of
ASEAN. In this regard, the Foreign Ministers emphasized the importance
of the follow-up actions on the decisions of the ASEAN Heads of
Government to ensure their expeditious implementation. They noted the
progress made by the relevant ASEAN committees in the implementation of
the Programme of Action adopted by the ASEAN Heads of Government.
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