Vietnam's boat people

The pledge issued by visiting Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh the other day that his country will prepare for the return of the 8,000 Vietnamese boat people now in Indonesia, undoubtedly came as a final blow to them. Now their fate is sealed. Their dreams of going to some industrialized country to settle have been shattered. Now they have to go back to Vietnam, the homeland which they fled years ago.

Actually, their fate was sealed last February when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) decided to close down the refugee camps in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, which shelter 50,000 people, by the end of next year.

It is obvious that the UNHCR has no other choice except to close down the camps because no third country is willing to accept the refugees for various reasons. Most of the boat people have even failed to meet the UNHCR criteria to classify them as refugees.

For countries where the camps are located, their presence seems to be more irritating by the day. Initially set up for humanitarian reasons, the camps and the prospect of maintaining them with no clear future of resettlement for the refugees, has obviously changed the minds of the governments concerned.

Indonesia, which is planning to develop Galang island just south of Singapore as part of the Batam industrial zone, sees the refugees now housed there as an obstruction. Last October, Indonesia and Vietnam reached an agreement to repatriate all of them by the middle of 1995.

On the other side of the issue, the boat people, who for years have nurtured some sort of dream of resettling in a rich country, view the UNHCR decision as unacceptable, which is understandable enough. No wonder they steadfastly resist the decision and have gone so far as to launch hunger strikes, with several of them even trying to commit suicide by setting themselves afire to emphasize their protest. Up to 500 Vietnamese boat people on Galang island are reported to have been on a hunger strikes since last week to protest President Anh's visit.

There are two points to consider in this issue. The first is humanitarian. Those thousands of refugees are certainly entitled to realize their dreams. They have braved storms, risked their lives and sold all their belongings to flee what they claim to be a bleak future of living under pressure and duress in their home country.

But the fact that they don't even meet the requirements to be considered as refugees also should be considered. Just from this point of view, we don't think that any country would be willing to accept them now, or in the future. Moreover, the world is changing. The boat people are considered yesterday's issue.

In many nations their plight is a dead issue. After experiencing racial conflicts or increasing rates of violence, allegedly caused by the influx of Southeast Asian immigrants, many industrialized countries are having second thoughts about them. Many openly admit that the refugees are now unwanted people.

With the door for resettlement closed, it is apparent that there is no other choice for those refugees except to return to their homeland. But, to send them back by force should be the last resort.

What could be suggested is to assure the refugees that to return to their homeland is the best and only solution for them. They should be informed of the current situation in Vietnam, where the government is pursuing a new policy of openness. If necessary, a number of refugee leaders should be invited to visit Vietnam to see for themselves the "new Vietnam", which is reportedly far different from the one they fled.

We believe that this kind of approach could help alleviate fears among the refugees. Meanwhile, to speed up the process, the UNHCR could raise the amount of its grants to voluntary returnees to help them achieve a viable livelihood. Apparently, everybody wants to forget the Vietnamese boat people issue as soon as possible. For now there are Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda threatening even greater tragedies.