More Vietnamese refugees repatriated

More Vietnamese refugees repatriated

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia repatriated another 244 Vietnamese
refugees from Galang Island under the Orderly Return Program on
Wednesday, press reports said yesterday.

The Vietnamese were sent home on the Indonesian Navy's KRI
Teluk Hading 538 after a ceremony attended by local military
commander Maj. Gen. Arie J. Kumaat, chief of the United Nations
High Commissioner on Refugees local office Robert Cooper and six
Vietnamese government representatives.

The ceremony was filled with emotion when a refugee who
represented his colleagues bade farewell to the present
officials, Antara reported.

"We will never forget our experiences during our stay on
Galang Island," the refugee said.

Several thousand Vietnamese on the island have been awaiting
repatriation.

Wednesday's repatriation was the latest in a series of
dispatches. Several hundreds had earlier been returned to Vietnam
by plane.

Earlier this month, Chief of Armed Forces General Affairs Lt.
Gen. Soeyono said recently the Indonesian government means to
repatriate all of them by the end of this month.

A delegate from the Vietnamese government assured the refugees
that they should not worry about their futures because they were
needed to build Vietnam.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that Singapore, which is located near
Galang Island, repatriated the 99 remaining Vietnamese boat
people yesterday.

AFP described the repatriation as "the most orderly" ever
carried out by any asylum country in Southeast Asia.

All the boat people, screened out of a resettlement program
after being found to be economic migrants rather than political
refugees, had signed up for the United Nations voluntary
repatriation program. (pan)