RP allocates fund for refugee camp

RP allocates fund for refugee camp

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine government is releasing 500,000 pesos (US$2,000) to shelter Vietnamese made homeless after a fire at their refugee camp last week.

President Fidel Ramos said in a statement released yesterday that an emergency fund would be used to build living quarters and provide for other immediate requirements of the displaced Vietnamese.

Last Thursday's fire, caused by an overturned kerosene lamp, caused serious destroyed the living quarters for 1,129 of the 2,909 Vietnamese living at the Philippine First Asylum Camp in the western island of Palawan.

Those affected have been housed in an abandoned school, a Roman Catholic church and a Buddhist temple inside the camp.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been urging the Vietnamese in the camp to return home since most are unlikely to be accepted for resettlement.