Alatas regrets death of Vietnamese in Galang

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas expressed his regret over the death of a Vietnamese man who committed an act of self-immolation to protest the planned repatriation of the 9,000 boat people on Galang island.

The suicide was part of a week-long strike by over 500 Vietnamese on Galang who are demanding that they be included in the "screened-in" criteria allowing them refugee status and resettlement in a third country.

Pham Van Chau lit himself ablaze on Tuesday during an inspection by an inter-departmental team from Jakarta sent to probe on the reported hunger strikes.

The 39-year old Pham was immediately taken to the Red Cross hospital on Batam and then transferred to the Tanjung Pinang hospital.

He died on Friday. Alatas made the announcement on Saturday in the first official confirmation of the death.

Alatas said the incident was very unfortunate but added that it was not a reflection of the overall sentiment of the Vietnamese on the island.

According to Alatas, there was a small group of 17 "agitators" who, for whatever reason, were able to influence others in participating in the hunger strikes. He added that, other than the man who had lit himself on fire, "...the protests were peaceful and orderly."

The minister did not mention whether or not the man who killed himself was one of the 17 agitators, or simply one of the boat people who had been influenced.

There are currently some 9,000 boat people from Vietnam and Cambodia. Of these, only 800 qualified for resettlement in third countries such as Canada, Australia and the United States, while the rest have no option but to return to their homeland.

"The protests were not directed towards Indonesia but more towards the repatriation system established by the United Nation Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR)," Alatas explained.

He reiterated that the repatriation would be on a voluntary basis without any form of threat or force. "I must stress that there will be no coercion in the repatriation."

Indonesia has been keen in vacating the island so it can be developed as part of the Batam bonded zone area.

The government has established August 1995 as a target for removing all the boat people on Galang and it also pushed Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh during last week's visit here to speed-up the repatriation process.

When asked if the refusal to return emanated from fear of persecution once they were home, Alatas defended the Hanoi government by saying the repatriation program was under UNHCR supervision.

He said the image of the political terror awaiting them in Vietnam was only in the minds of those on Galang.

"If anything is wrong, I'm sure the UN will know about it."

Alatas acknowledged that Indonesia, Vietnam and the UNHCR face a daunting task in repatriating all the boat people in Galang and predicted that, despite the use gentle persuasion, there would probably still be a few boat people refusing to leave.

Nevertheless he rejected the likelihood of those dissenting to be branded as illegal aliens. "No we are not considering it as an option at the present time." (07)