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erously to the ever-escalating costs.
Secondly, we need to
k at proposals to bring order into the flow of refugees from etnam so that the present appalling loss of life is arrested. irdly, we need to reassert the principles of first asylum and he safety of life at sea which have come under such strain as the present crises has grown.
mo
In the resettlement arrangements there must be jumping of the
already overlong queue of people awaiting resettlement in
Hong Kong and South-East Asia. International participation is
an essential part of any scheme.
If others agree, such participation could best be conducted
through by a commission drawn from a small number of neutral and
non-aligned countries. This commission would work closely with
the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees and the Vietnamese
Government to set up and manage acceptable arrangements for hand-
ling people who wish to leave Vietnam.
The same commission, or one like it, should also tackle the plight
of those who wish to leave Laos and Cambodia. The pressure on Thailand is already acute. It could become intolerable if fighting
continues in Cambodia and if there is a serious famine there.
The international community must do what it can immediately to
provide food for the starving under effective international
supervision.
There must be an end to the fighting, a political
solution to the problems of this miserable and war-ravaged country
must be found.
In the context of orderly de rture, my Government supports the
proposal to establish large transit centres to provide temporary
homes meanwhile, and we shall cooperate with the High Commissioner
and the Governments directly involved.
But these temporary homes must not be allowed to become permament.
It is too easy to fail to follow through, to leave masses of
people to grow demoralised in camp as the months grow into years.
We should take further steps to reunite those families which have
been separated.
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