RESTRICTED
John Dennis
SEAD
oc.
British High Commission Kuala Lumpur
6 September 1988
AGI
Godsor f.i.
791
Not altogether exavaging
Mr Footman, HKD 'I compare vintarowat?
with Hong Kong's
ездога
12/9
Dear John
MALAYSIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO VIETNAM : UNHCR's VIEWS
1. After the briefing given by the MFA covering Ghafar Baba's visit to Vietnam (our telno 466) I called on Jean-Marie Fakhouri, the Deputy Representative of the UNHCR here to get his interpretation of the visit.
2. There are currently about 13,000 Vietnamese in Malaysia. 10,000 on Pulau Bidong and another 3,000 in Sungei Besi, the transit camp near Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia until now has been successful in resettling a majority of those who arrive so only a small proportion of those currently in the camps are long stayers. Arrivals are low at the moment as it is the monsoon season in Southern Vietnam but even so the August total of 400 is four times last year. Arrivals are predominantly ethnic Vietnamese and there is a real possibility that this autumn, following the pattern in Hong Kong, numbers will rise significantly.
3. Mr Fakhouri believed that the announcement last May that Pulau Bidong would be shut within a year had been made for political reasons (a reward to the Chief Minister of Trengganu for his loyalty to the Prime Minister) without being fully thought out. Even if the deadline at the end of the day was not strictly adhered to, the policy was causing them operating problems, they were not allowed to maintain existing buildings or erect new ones to help alleviate the severe overcrowding (Pulau Bidong is designed to accommodate 5 - 6,000). They did have permission to expand Sungei Besi to take a further 2,500 people but if autumn arrivals increased as anticipated this would not be enough.
4. Despite the optimistic statements made on their return, including the hope that Pulau Bidong could be closed a month earlier than origionally planned, he believed that the Malaysian's trip to Vietnam had not been the success that they had hoped for. Officials were well aware of the amount of work involved before existing refugees could be returned or resettled, but they were in a dilemma because of the strong stand the politicians had already taken. He did not believe that the Malaysians really wanted to return to their pre-1979 policy of turning refugees back but he felt that much would depend on the numbers that arrived this autumn and also the response of the international community. Malaysia might respond with flexibility if it believed that the international community were taking her problems and concerns seriously.
RESTRICTED
/5.