Shultz Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to Indochinese Refugees

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, responding to complaints that the West is losing its compassion for Indochinese refugees, told Southeast Asian foreign ministers Thursday that the United States will continue to provide homes for “substantial numbers” of displaced persons.

In a speech to the opening session of the annual dialogue between the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations and representatives of the industrialized democracies, Shultz called on the nations of the region to resist pressure to harden their attitudes toward the continuing flow of refugees from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The ASEAN nations--Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand--are among Washington’s favorite countries because of their resolutely capitalistic economic systems. But Shultz encountered strong criticism on the refugee issue and on that of growing sentiment in Congress for legislation to restrict imports in an effort to narrow the chronic U.S. trade deficit.

On both subjects, Shultz responded by defending the Reagan Administration’s policy and by suggesting that the Southeast Asian nations bear a share of the blame.

“I want to reassure you,” he said, “that the commitment of the United States to resolving the Indochinese refugee problem is as strong today as it has ever been, and to urge all of you to reaffirm your own commitment to that same goal.”

He said the nations of the region “must reconfirm their commitment to humanitarian treatment of all seeking asylum.” Although he did not go into specifics, other U.S. officials have been critical of Southeast Asian nations, especially Thailand, for trying to force Cambodian and Laotian refugees to go home.

Impatient at Flow

The ASEAN countries have shown an increasing reluctance to provide initial haven for the refugees, 144,000 of whom are still housed in temporary camps. Thailand plans to close its main refugee processing center. The refugee issue has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as the number of Vietnamese fleeing in boats has increased. Last month, the United Nations reported the arrival of 1,326 “boat people” in Thailand alone, the highest monthly total since June, 1981.

In a communique issued earlier this week, the ASEAN foreign ministers expressed growing impatience with the continued flow of Indochinese refugees 12 years after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. They said the refugees should either be resettled in countries outside the region or sent back to where they came from.

“While resettlement in third countries was slowing down, the influx of Vietnamese refugees and illegal immigrants by sea to ASEAN countries, especially Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, has continued unabated,” the communique said. It said the only acceptable solution is one that will eliminate the “residual refugee problem in the ASEAN countries.”

But Shultz said, “It has become clear to all of us that the refugee problem in this part of the world is an enduring one, and we must realize that solving it will be a long-term process for all of us.”

To underscore U.S. willingness to take refugees, he brought a letter from four U.S. senators affirming Congress’ intent to maintain resettlement programs. The letter was signed by Sens. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) and Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.).

In Hong Kong, however, U.S. Consul General Donald Anderson said Thursday that the United States will probably accept fewer Vietnamese “boat people” this year than in the past. Anderson said that many of the “boat people” now seeking refuge in Hong Kong do not qualify for resettlement in the United States because they are fleeing their homeland for economic rather than political reasons.

“We are taking the maximum number of eligible refugees but there are certain qualifications they have to meet,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, this year there has been something of a decline in the number of boat people who qualify. An increasing number are coming from north Vietnam.”

Under an annual ceiling set by Congress, the United States can resettle 32,000 refugees who reach Thailand and other “first-asylum countries.”

Canada Makes Pledge

Joe Clark, Canada’s minister of external affairs, pledged that his nation will continue to accept its share of Indochinese refugees. But he avoided Shultz’s implied criticism of the regional countries, instead praising ASEAN for an outstanding “response to this human tragedy.”

The meeting, at a luxury hotel in Singapore’s skyscraper-studded city core, was attended by representatives of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and the European Communities as well as the ASEAN foreign ministers. After a 90-minute formal opening, the participants began a daylong series of closed meetings.

A U.S. official said later that no effort was made to reach a consensus on any of the issues. There was no indication, he said, that the discussion caused any of the participants to change position.

The ASEAN countries, joined by Japan, expressed alarm at the trade legislation under consideration by Congress.

“People refer to protectionist pressures in the United States,” Shultz said. “There is a difference between pressures for protection and protection itself. We in the United States (Administration) resist the pressures.”

But Shultz warned the ASEAN nations that they can no longer expect to base their prosperity on an aggressive export strategy that calls on them to sell far more than they buy in international trade.

“It is not arithmetically possible for every country in the world to be a net exporter at the same time,” he said. “So something will have to give here, and it will be, possibly, a traumatic experience.”

One possible source of friction between Washington and ASEAN evaporated when the ASEAN ministers abandoned a plan to declare Southeast Asia a “nuclear-free zone.”

The United States opposes such zones because it believes they erode the strategy of nuclear deterrence. Shultz made it clear earlier that he was prepared to resist anti-nuclear sentiment in ASEAN if it had developed.