non-volunteers took place on 1 December.
- The European Commission has announced a major programme of reintegration assistance for returning boat people costing some £85 million commencing with a six month pilot project on 1 February costing £7 million.
- No genuine refugees will be returned to Vietnam. No
question of any boat people being repatriated without
assurance from the Vietnamese that they will not be
persecuted or punished.
-
UNHCR and the British Embassy in Hanoi have been
monitoring the conditions of those who have been returned.
Not a single substantiated case of mal-treatment or
persecution has come to light.
The UNHCR is launching a major publicity campaign in the areas of Vietnam for which the boat people originate to discourage illegal departures and re-state the principle
established at the International Conference on Indo-Chinese
Refugees in June 1989 that all non-refugees must return to
Vietnam.
South-East Asian Department
6 March 1991
MTHATW/5