I rise in support of the legislation of the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee of Asian and Pacific. Affairs. the gentleman from New York . I believe that an international presence. a United Nations presence. in the refugee encampments in Thailand and Kampuchea is particularly important at this time. Those refugee centers are endangered by continued hostility. hostility from the Vietnamese. hostility from the opposing Military Forces in Kampuchea and hostility within the encampments. During our committees recent visit to Thailand. we had an opportunity to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister. He expressed concern about the safety of the Kampuchean refugees in the border encampments. I do not believe that the responsibility for protecting these hundreds of thousands of refugees on the borders between Thailand and Kampuchea should be the responsibility of any one nation. It is extremely important. if we truly have a humanitarian concern for the safety of these refugees. that there be an international presence. a United Nations presence. in these camps. Since 1975 the situation in Cambodia has produced a series of horror stories. We can only guess at the tragedy visited upon the Khmer people by the Pol Pot and Heng Samrin governments.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees