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14 MAY 1985
tnamese Government have led to economic priorities hereby disproportionate resources are devoted to maintaining the third largest army in the world. This, combined with a lamentable human rights record, has resulted in a continuing exodus of large numbers of Vietnamese around one million since 1975. These people flee their country in search of a better life. Last year a further 25,000 fled by boat, risking dangers at sea, including piracy. I think that these figures in themselves are a massive condemnation of the policies of the Vietnam Government.
Many thousands of Vietnamese have been detained since 1975 in the so-called re-education camps of Vietnam without charge or trial. They continue to be subjected to exceptionally harsh treatment, and deprived of food and medicine. We are similarly disturbed by the continuing detention without trial or charge of intellectuals, diplomats and writers, for example, who have expressed views even marginally different from the official party line, by the discriminatory attitude of the Vietnamese Government towards Chinese and other ethnic minorities in Vietnam, and by the persecution and harassment of Catholics and Buddhists-particularly of Catholic and Buddhist priests ---solely because of their faith. We and the international community must continue to try to persuade the Hanoi Government to treat their citizens in a civilised fashion and to take proper responsibility for them. We certainly make this clear whenever we can.
The United Kingdom and Hong Kong, although they have no historic links with Vietnam, have made important contributions in helping to alleviate this human tragedy. As my hon. Friend has already said, some 19,000 Vietnamese have been given new homes in this country, and over 14,000 Indo-Chinese have been resettled in Hong Kong. The 1979 conference on Indo-Chinese refugees was a United Kingdom initiative. Over 12,000 of the refugees who have been resettled in this country have come from Hong Kong. The House should be aware of our continuing international commitment to resettle family reunion and ship rescue cases. Last year alone, we took in 832 Vietnamese in these two categories. Under the orderly departure programme, the Vietnamese continue to join their families here direct from Vietnam.
If I may say a word about Cambodia, a further reason for the crisis in the region has been Vietnam's unwarranted invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978. Vietnamese troops totalling 160,000 are still there. Vietnam prides itself on having fought for its own liberation. It should respect the wish of the Cambodian people to determine their own future free from outside interference. But the Vietnamese Government have ignored repeated calls at the Uited Nations, in the 1981 international conference on Kampuchea and subsequent General Assembly resolutions, for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Cambodia and the holding of internationally supervised elections for a neutral, non- aligned and independent Cambodia. These principles were re-endorsed at last year's UN General Assembly by an overwhelming majority of 110 countries. Not only have these calls been ignored, but last November Vietnamese forces launched their most ferocious offensive to date on the Thai-Cambodia border, causing well over 200,000 Cambodians to flee into Thailand with great human hardship.
What is the United Kingdom policy? The British Government have consistently supported these UN calls,
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and we have condemned the Vietnamese occupation. which is the root cause of the Cambodian refugee problem. We have also called upon the Vietnamese to put a stop to actions such as their repeated offensives and violations of Thai territory, summoning the Vietnamese ambassador to reinforce these views. We shall certainly maintain this pressure.
We play, and intend to continue to play, a full part, in conjunction with our European and other Western partners, in support of the ASEAN nations, who are rightly in the forefront. We maintain the closest contact with them on this and on other matters. Any solution in our view must be based, as ASEAN insists, on withdrawal of the Vietnamese forces from Cambodia. We shall certainly continue to keep in the closest touch with our ASEAN colleagues, as, indeed, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, has done in her recent tour.
We shall continue to support the aims of the resistance coalition whose forces confront Vietnam in Cambodia. Prince Sihanouk and Mr. Son Sann, the leader of the Khmer People's National Liberation Front, play an important role in providing a focus for Cambodians who wish to see their country independent once again. We maintain links with representatives of the Prince and Mr. Son Sann. Indeed, my right hon. and learned Friend had talks with Mr. Son Sann only a year ago. We have provided bilateral humanitarian aid to their two organisations after the attacks by Vietnamese troops on the Thai-Cambodian border.
United Kingdom support for the coalition does not mean support for Pol Pot. We withdrew our formal recognition of the Pol Pot regime in December 1979. Our representative at the 1982 United Nations General Assembly made it quite clear that our support for the credentials of Democratic Kampuchea did not represent a change in the Government's position in this matter, and that we had no intention of contributing to the re- establishment of the Pol Pot regime. It is surely for the people of Cambodia to decide who should represent them. In contributing to international relief on the Thai- Cambodian border we have made it clear to the agencies concerned that our aid must not go to the Khmer Rouge, and we are assured that that commitment is honoured.
I should also refer to our efforts to help Cambodian refugees, a subject of concern to my hon. Friend. Together with other western countries, we co-ordinate our policies closely to try to alleviate this problem. During the financial year 1984-85, we contributed £850,000 to international relief work on the Thai-Cambodian border, and we shall continue to maintain our contacts with the international bodies in the period ahead.
I want to say a word about the important subject of Hong Kong, which is our responsibility. The recent publication of the Select Committee on Home Affairs on refugees and asylum highlighted the problem of Vietnamese refugees, especially those in Hong Kong. That makes the debate most timely. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Home Office said during Adjournment debate on 9 May that the Government were considering the Select Committee's recommendations very carefully, and would be giving a detailed response in due course. In the meantime, it would not be appropriate to offer detailed comment on the recommendations.
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I assure the House that the Government attach the utmost importance to improving the position of the
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