Word: nams
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...policy was born of desperation, although it seemed shockingly inhumane. Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced that his government was going to get tough with refugees from Viet Nam. Not only would Malaysia shoot on sight at any more of the so-called boat people who tried to land on its shores, said Mahathir, but it would push back to sea the 76,000 who have already landed there. If necessary, continued Mahathir, Malaysia would build boats in which to remove them. Said he: "If they try sinking the boats, they won't be rescued. They...
Mahathir's outburst typified the depth of anger and frustration felt not only by Malaysia but also by several of its neighbors in Southeast Asia. The resources and patience of these countries have been severely strained by the steadily rising numbers of refugees from Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia. In addition to the 76,000 refugees in Malaysia, there are 160,000 in Thailand, 31,500 in Indonesia and 57,000 in Hong Kong, and the governments of these nations are getting more and more worried Two weeks ago, Thailand repatriated 42,000 Cambodian refugees at gunpoint, sending them...
Since last November, the flow of refugees has become a torrent. They are currently fleeing Viet Nam at the rate of 65,000 a month, but are being permanently relocated at the rate of only 10,000 a month. Of these, about 7,000 a month are going to the U.S. The result is that the camps and resettlement areas of Southeast Asia are choked with more than 300,000 refugees. Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has called for an international conference on the plight of the refugees, and the subject is certain to be discussed at this...
...evidently caused Hanoi to regard its Chinese population of about one million as a potentially dangerous fifth column. Some refugees arriving in Hong Kong and elsewhere say they were given a choice of emigrating or moving from cities to one of the "new economic zones," a euphemism for Viet Nam's rural labor camps...
From those who have chosen to leave, the Vietnamese government has extorted millions of dollars in gold. Peking has accused Viet Nam of becoming "the biggest and most despicable human trafficker of the present age." The U.S. tends to agree. "This is a cynical and brutal policy," Vice President Walter Mondale told TIME last week. "They are just running, people out of the country." Hong Kong government officials say that the trade in human lives has replaced coal as Hanoi's principal source of gold and hard currency. According to some Hong Kong estimates, Hanoi could collect as much...