the talks held in London last week with Vietnam about this
problem, the Vietnamese agreed that those who return to Vietnam must be treated humanely, and that their resettlement into Vietnamese
life must be monitored under arrangements acceptable to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They assured us not a
single boat person would be punished.
It goes without saying that we will not ignore any failure by the Vietnamese to keep their side of the bargain.
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They know that not only Britain but the rest of the world will be watching carefully to see whether they meet the standards expected
of them. The United Nations will be there, to make sure they do.
I understand those who wish that Britain and the rest of the world
had an unlimited capacity to help those disadvantaged by the
problems of the Vietnamese economy. But the plain fact is that we
do not.
We must now face up to this. To argue, as some have, that we
should try to resettle the arrivals of the last few months, is cruelly short-sighted. That would encourage thousands more to
leave. And we would be back to square one.
The only practical solution is to demonstrate to all the
Vietnamese the ones
country
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trying to leave and the ones trying to run the that they have to work together to build a nation which, by its prosperity and vitality, will give its citizens something to
live for.
―
That is what we
are doing.
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