TNAG-0892-FCO40-1102-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 82

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Indo-Chinese Refugees

Indo-Chinese Refugees

768

28 JUNE 1979

transit to their ultimate country of resettlement.

INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES

[Motion made and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Boscawen.]

10.53 p.m.

Mr. Alastair Goodlad (Northwich): 1 am grateful for the opportunity to raise the question of the Indo-Chinese refugees and the nature and extent of the Govern- ment's responsibilities towards them. am particularly grateful to my hon. Friend the Minister of State, who knows

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Indo-China and the Far East from first- hand experience as well as anyone in the House, for coming here tonight to answer the debate.

The last few months have seen a sub- stantial and tragic increase in the num- ber of the world's refugees, formally estimated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at between 4 million and 5 million. A decision has apparently been taken by the Govern- ment of Vietnam to remove from the nor- mal life of that country the entire Chinese ethnic minority, together with those Viet- members of the community whose previous mode of life does not accord with prevailing revolutionary theory.

namese

The Vietnamese refugees have been faced with the threat of banishment to so- called new economic zones, having their property confiscated, or the option of pay- ing a sum of money to the public service burcau or to middle-men for safe pas- sage out of Vietnamese waters into the international sea lanes. It is a grim com- mentary on the attractions of the first two options that so many refugees choose the last. It is not possible to estimate how many of the boat people have drowned, but it seems likely that nearly half the number of those who have put to sea may have done so. There is a very fine distinction between the present policy of the Vietnamese Government and geno- cide.

The number of survivors involved is substantial, and is rising daily. From 1975 to the beginning of this month, about 570,000 Indo-Chinese refugees had been accepted for permanent resettlement, of whom, the great majority are from Vietnam. Many of them are still in countries of temporary asylum awaiting

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The countries that have accepted them are China, which has taken 230,000, the United States 224,000, France 49,000- although I saw that yesterday the Cabi- net agreed to accept another 5,000— Australia 21,000, Canada 15,000, Hong Kong 12,000, Germany 3,600, the United Kingdom 3,300, Switzerland 1,600. Malaysia 1,600, Belgium 1,300, and a number of other countries which have

accepted fewer than 1,000. Of the States with large geographical areas, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Finland and the Latin American countries are notable by their absence from the list.

In addition to the 560,000 Indo- Chinese refugees who have been accepted for resettlement, there were at the begin- ning of this month an estimated 286,000 awaiting resettlement. That figure is now well over 300,000, and the extent by which it could rise is inestimable. It could rise to 1 million. Of these people, at the beginning of the month 155,000 were in Thailand, 68,000 in Malaysia, 36,000 in Hong Kong-indeed the figure this morn- ing was 59,000-21,000 in Indonesia, 2,700 in Macau, 2,500 in the Philippines, and 500 in Singapore. Again, the vast majority are from Vietnam, 60,000 being Laotians, and 40,000 Kampucheans or Khmers. It is estimated that over 50,000 of the latter have been returned from Thailand to Kampuchea. These figures do not include the large number of Vietnamese and Khmer displaced persons -estimates of whom range up to 1 mil- lion-who are within Indo-China. Although they do not fall within the definition of refugees, they would do so if they were to leave their countries.

The pace of resettlement is now very slow, and the number needing resettlement is rising fast. The ASEAN countries, with the exception of Indonesia, are not accepting any more refugees. Thailand sends them back into Kampuchea, and Malaysia sends them out to sea. The United Nations High Commissioners has, I understand, just over 125,000 offers of settlement places a year on his books- enough to clear a mere three-months' worth of new arrivals at the present rate, without touching the backlog who are in the refugee camps.

That is the scale of the problem.