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73
11.8 p.m.
Indo-Chinese Refugees
28 JUNE 1979
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Peter Blaker): 1 am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Northwich (Mr. Goodlad) for drawing attention to the plight of the refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, who, in their desire] to escape from oppressive regimes or, in the case of Cambodia, from the horrors of civil war, now find themselves at best in a kind of limbo, unsure of what their future will be, or, at worst, uncertain whether they will manage to survive.
A continuing stream of people have sought to escape by sea from Vietnam ever since the Communists seized power by force in the South in 1975. They have come from all walks of life. Many thousands have found permanent homes abroad, as my hon. Friend pointed out and I commend the efforts of those coun- tries who have accepted refugees for resettlement. I welcome in particular the announcement from the American Administration today that they are pre- pared to double the number of refugees accepted by the United States. Most of these are not refugees, but among them are many who have been expelled from East Africa, just as the unfortunate boat people have been expelled from their own country in such appalling circum-
stances.
Nevertheless, we have agreed under the previous Government to take a special quota of about 1,500 Indo-Chinese and more recently we have agreed to take the
from refugees
the British ships Sibonga and 'Roachbank and those from the "Norse Viking" who wish to come here.
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We contributed about £3.5 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee's programme of assistance to the Indo-Chinese refugees up to the end of 1978. For 1979, we have pledged £3.5 million towards the High Commis- sioner's general programme, which in- cludes work on behalf of the South-East) Asian refugees. These figures represent over 8 per cent. of his budget.
In recent months, the stream of refugees has become a flood. It is a remarkable fact that the authorities in Hanoi should have decided to make conditions in Viet- nam so intolerable that, rather than stay, the ethnic Chinese, and, indeed, many
6 A 9
Indo-Chinese Refugees 774 Vietnamese, should have been willing to take a less than 50 per cent. chance of survival, and leave in overcrowded and often unseaworthy boats after having been mulcted of gold and their posses- sions, often by the Government of Viet- nam themselves. This is a sad commen- tary on the new order in Vietnam, born of such suffering and with such a fanfare by the regime's propagandists at the time.
The result is that the coasts of coun- tries neighbouring Vietnam are being inundated by a tide of refugees. We are particularly involved because we have responsibility for Hong Kong. But monwealth, as well as Thailand and Malaysia, a fellow member of the Com-
have all been seriously affected. Indonesia, our good friends in ASEAN,
The situation is further complicated in Hong Kong in this case by an influx of Chinese from across the border, and in the case of Thailand by inroads of Laotian and Cambodian refugees on a massive scale. According to the latest figures, over 350,000 refugees are await- ing resettlement in South-East Asia and Hong Kong. As many as 3,000 people per day may be leaving Vietnam with the connivance of the Government, but over 1 million ethnic Chinese remain in that
country. The dimensions of the prob-
lem are therefore enormous.
Throughout South-East Asia, the peoples of the countries of first refuge are reacting with increasing concern to the numbers of refugees who continue to flood to their countries. Quite apart from the burden of feeding these people, hous- in makeshift camps, and ing them providing medical supplies, there is an understandable fear, as my hon. Friend rightly said, that if the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees does not succeed in obtaining resettlement places for the refugees elsewhere, the ethnic balance in their countries will be per- manently impaired.
are
In Hong Kong, about 58,000 refugees now being looked after, and over 11,000 have been accepted for settlement. More are coming in each day. When it is recalled how overcrowded Hong Kong already is, it is easy to realise the burden that this imposes on the local welfare services, and I, like my hon. Friend, pay tribute to the Government and the people of Hong Kong for what they are doing.
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