Vietnam's boat people<\/p>\n
The pledge issued by visiting Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh
\nthe other day that his country will prepare for the return of the
\n8,000 Vietnamese boat people now in Indonesia, undoubtedly came
\nas a final blow to them. Now their fate is sealed. Their dreams
\nof going to some industrialized country to settle have been
\nshattered. Now they have to go back to Vietnam, the homeland
\nwhich they fled years ago.<\/p>\n
Actually, their fate was sealed last February when the United
\nNations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) decided to close
\ndown the refugee camps in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, which
\nshelter 50,000 people, by the end of next year.<\/p>\n
It is obvious that the UNHCR has no other choice except to
\nclose down the camps because no third country is willing to
\naccept the refugees for various reasons. Most of the boat people
\nhave even failed to meet the UNHCR criteria to classify them as
\nrefugees.<\/p>\n
For countries where the camps are located, their presence
\nseems to be more irritating by the day. Initially set up for
\nhumanitarian reasons, the camps and the prospect of maintaining
\nthem with no clear future of resettlement for the refugees, has
\nobviously changed the minds of the governments concerned.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, which is planning to develop Galang island just
\nsouth of Singapore as part of the Batam industrial zone, sees the
\nrefugees now housed there as an obstruction. Last October,
\nIndonesia and Vietnam reached an agreement to repatriate all of
\nthem by the middle of 1995.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the issue, the boat people, who for years
\nhave nurtured some sort of dream of resettling in a rich country,
\nview the UNHCR decision as unacceptable, which is understandable
\nenough. No wonder they steadfastly resist the decision and have
\ngone so far as to launch hunger strikes, with several of them
\neven trying to commit suicide by setting themselves afire to
\nemphasize their protest. Up to 500 Vietnamese boat people on
\nGalang island are reported to have been on a hunger strikes since
\nlast week to protest President Anh's visit.<\/p>\n
There are two points to consider in this issue. The first is
\nhumanitarian. Those thousands of refugees are certainly entitled
\nto realize their dreams. They have braved storms, risked their
\nlives and sold all their belongings to flee what they claim to be
\na bleak future of living under pressure and duress in their home
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
But the fact that they don't even meet the requirements to be
\nconsidered as refugees also should be considered. Just from this
\npoint of view, we don't think that any country would be willing
\nto accept them now, or in the future. Moreover, the world is
\nchanging. The boat people are considered yesterday's issue.<\/p>\n
In many nations their plight is a dead issue. After
\nexperiencing racial conflicts or increasing rates of violence,
\nallegedly caused by the influx of Southeast Asian immigrants,
\nmany industrialized countries are having second thoughts about
\nthem. Many openly admit that the refugees are now unwanted
\npeople.<\/p>\n
With the door for resettlement closed, it is apparent that
\nthere is no other choice for those refugees except to return to
\ntheir homeland. But, to send them back by force should be the
\nlast resort.<\/p>\n
What could be suggested is to assure the refugees that to
\nreturn to their homeland is the best and only solution for them.
\nThey should be informed of the current situation in Vietnam,
\nwhere the government is pursuing a new policy of openness. If
\nnecessary, a number of refugee leaders should be invited to visit
\nVietnam to see for themselves the \"new Vietnam\", which is
\nreportedly far different from the one they fled.<\/p>\n
We believe that this kind of approach could help alleviate
\nfears among the refugees. Meanwhile, to speed up the process, the
\nUNHCR could raise the amount of its grants to voluntary returnees
\nto help them achieve a viable livelihood. Apparently, everybody
\nwants to forget the Vietnamese boat people issue as soon as
\npossible. For now there are Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda
\nthreatening even greater tragedies.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/vietnams-boat-people-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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