RO ZAGU
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VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
DRAFT TEXT OF JOINT DEMARCHE TO VIETNAM
1.
The Twelve wish to express their concern at illegal departures by boat from Vietnam. The greatly increased numbers of which have placed great burdens on the countries and territory which have received them. The problem damages Vietnam's international image. The Twelve urge Vietnam to accept responsibility for the people who have left and to address the problem through close cooperation with others.
2.
The Vietnamese boat people problem has been a source of international concern for many years. But in recent months this concern has intensified as the situation began to deteriorate rapidly: since the beginning of 1987 the numbers of boat people arriving in Thailand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, the three principal destinations, have increased dramatically. The camp populations have increased from 6,300 to over 13,000 in Thailand (to May), from 9,000 to 11,500 in Malaysia (to May), and from 8,000 to over 19,000 in Hong Kong (to June). At the same time, the prospects for resettlement in the West have substantially declined, along with a widespread and well-founded belief that most of the recent arrivals are not genuine refugees.
3.
Faced with this deteriorating situation, allegedly the consequence of a war which in fact ended 13 years ago, the countries and territory which in the past have offered temporary haven to the boat people pending their resettlement have become increasingly frustrated. They take the view that they should not be expected to assume the burden of supporting these people whose future lies not in the West but in their own country Vietnam. Against this background Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong have each concluded that new policies are required. In Thailand, new arrivals are no longer eligible for resettlement and the Phanat Nikhom holding centre has been closed to new arrivals. Malaysia has announced that it will close the Pulau Bidang camp. Hong Kong has introduced a system of screening, under which those who are found to be illegal immigrants will be detained in closed camps pending their return to Vietnam when suitable safeguards have been given for their treatment on return
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