about their treatment in Vietnam have apparently been
either requested or given"
The facts are these:
(i)
in the discussions which I conducted with the
Vietnamese authorities I both sought and received
guarantees that boat people returning to Vietnam would
not be punished;
(ii) undertakings to the same effect have been given
by the Vietnamese authorities to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees in a formal written
understanding covering practical arrangements for the
they return of boat people;
(iii) the Vietnamese Foreign Minister has publicly
confirmed the undertakings given bilaterally.
It is a matter of considerable surprise to me that
an international organisation such as your own should not
meet higher standards of accuracy in the claims which it
makes about the observance of human rights.
The
who return to Wietnam willy Vietnamese boat people concerned have been screened,
under arrangements monitored by UNHCR and according to
will UNHCR guidelines, and have been determined not to meet
the recognised criteria to be considered as refugees.
Their screening, the appeals procedure open to them, and
the arrangements for their eventual return to Vietnam
have all been established with careful regard for the
human rights of the individuals concerned.
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