In order to promote truly voluntarily repatriation. I support and concur in the recommendations of the Indochina Resource Action Center. They have said in effect that there should be certain conditions. and those conditions are: One. ensure that Vietnam guarantees to returnees safety. dignity. reintegration assistance. return of property and freedom from persecution. prosecution or discrimination. two. to establish an effective monitoring system with full and confidential access to returnees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and cooperating nongovernmental organizations. three. prevent the use of coercive measures to induce voluntary repatriation. and. four. create humane conditions in all camps to ease eventual reintegration into their society. five. establish conditions to guarantee conditions of safety of volunteers waiting to return. six. institute a widereaching education campaign on voluntary repatriation. Mr. President. only if these conditions for truly voluntary repatriation are met. can we sanction any return of the Vietnamese to Vietnam. Human decency demands no less. There are those who find the plight of these refugees unfortunate. but irrelevant. Because they do not have names and faces and families which are familiar to us. because television cameras are not in the camps bringing the refugees into our living rooms every night. the temptation is to forget that they even exist. but they do exist. The commandment says to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" seems terribly outdated in this age of selfish materialism. but it raises the question: If it were us instead of them. would anyone care? I call upon my colleagues to insist upon such conditions and to speak out against any British plans for forcible repatriation.
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Refugees refugees