+
CONFIDENTIAL
6.
ATTITUDE OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES TOWARDS INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES
1. The Malaysians were initially hospitable to refugees, who were
received in camps where the UNHCR was given access to them.
78,000
are now there. Out of 48,000 arrivals in 1979, less than 22,000
have been resettled outside the country, but the Malaysians now claim
to have offers of 52,000 resettlement places.
2. The Malaysians do not contemplate permanent resettlement for any
of the refugees. They claim to have spent already the equivalent of
£6.5 million on their welfare.
3.
Opinion has hardened against the refugees. The Malaysians
acknowledge having towed away from their shores in 1979 267 boats
carrying 40,000 people. The boats are alleged to have been
replenished before being sent on. Many of the boats will have tried
to go to Indonesia, but Malaysia and Indonesia have now agreed to
maintain joint naval patrols against newcomers.
#
!
4. The Malaysians have no current intention of expelling refugees
from the permanent camps in their country, but they are adopting a
harsher policy towards all refugees, which includes turning away new
Malaysian boatloads, and the/Prime Minister has spoken of the need to "send
HP
them out" if they are not accepted elsewhere for resettlement within a
reasonable time-frame. The Malaysinas have proposed a large refugee
holding and processing centre for up to 200,000 perhaps on an
Indonesian island; they claim Indonesian support. They have also
suggested processing centres in Vietnam itself, but accept that this
would be difficult.
5. The Malaysian Home Minister has suggested that Vietnam should take
back the unresettled residue of refugees. The ASEAN Foreign
Ministers supported this suggestion at their meeting in Bali from
CONFIDENTAL
438 jun
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.