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Twenty-fifth Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference
practical handling of the problem, and said that the United Kingdom delegation would return home determined to give even more aid. The Commonwealth had to accept extra responsibility.
His country had four types of refugees, all of whom must be fed, clothed, and provide with medical facilities, a Botswana delegate said. Because international assistance was sometimes so slow, Botswana had to divert development funds for refugees, and so the problem became politically sensitive. Thirty thousand refugees were too many for a country with a population of 750,000.
High commendation of the attitude of Hong Kong, where refugees would not be turned away, was added by a delegate from Ontario. Four thousand refugees had now gone from there to Canada and the goal was 50,000. He also commended efforts of churches in Australia and New Zealand.
A suggestion from a Gujarat delegate that 1980 should be observed as a no-refugee year was applauded. Although India and other Commonwealth countries had received many refugees the anxiety was not over. The problem must be solved by organisation, with the help of the United Nations Organisation and its agencies, and by intervening in any part of the world with a peace army whenever required.
A delegate from Singapore spoke of the immensity of the refugee problem in South-east Asia, which at present would take at least 3 or 4 years to solve, but there was also the prospect of more refugees flowing into the area. The problem must be solved, not only in the humanitarian but also in the political aspect, by pressure to make Vietnam amend its policies. If nothing was done about that the Singapore Government might decide to send the refugees in its country to underpopulated countries in South-east Asia.
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