Speech #1010030202

Mr. Speaker. I support Sanate Concurrent Resolution 26 which urges first asylum countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations to reaffirm their policy of offering asylum to Vietnamese refugees without bias. The ASEAN countries and Hong Kong continue to be overwhelmed by Vietnamese refugees who are leaving their country by the thousands. An estimated 44.000 left Vietnam last year. This resolution reaffirms recommendations that were endorsed by 30 countries last March in a preparatory meeting on how to deal with the flow of people from Vietnam. Soon after the preparatory meeting for the International Conference on Indochinese Refugees. the six ASEAN countries announced that as of March 14 Vietnamese seeking asylum would no longer automatically be regarded as refugees eligible for resettlement unless they could prove their refugee status through a screening out process. Under Hong Kongs screening program. all boat people who arrived after June 15. 1988 are assumed to be illegal immigrants. And those who are screened out because they could not prove they were politically persecuted are held in detention camps pending repatriation to Vietnam. The International Conference on Indochinese Refugees will meet in Geneva June 13 and 14. The conference will address long term goals concerning the safety. repatriation. and resettlement of Vietnamese asylumseekers. as well as timely UNHCR access to refugee camps and the development of uniform screening procedures for the region. among other issues. Mr. Speaker. we should demonstrate before the Geneva Conference convenes that the United States Congress is committed to finding lasting solutions to the refugee situation as it now exists in Southeast Asia. I would like to thank Congressman ATKINS for his version of this resolution in the House and his continuing efforts on the part of Indochinese refugees.