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This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
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News Service 29/96
AI INDEX: ASA 03/01/96
16 FEBRUARY 1996


SOUTHEAST ASIA: OTHER GOVERNMENTS SHOULD FOLLOW PHILIPPINES
GOVERNMENT NEW STANCE ON TREATMENT OF FAILED ASYLUM-SEEKERS

Amnesty International is calling on Southeast Asian
governments to follow the Philippines Government~s commitment
to no longer use violent methods to force failed Vietnamese
asylum-seekers to return to Viet Nam.

      Asylum-seekers who have yet to sign up for voluntary
repatriation are being treated ever more harshly across
Southeast Asia. The organization has received reports of
worsening conditions in the refugee camps as basic services
are removed by the authorities.

       ~People have been shot, beaten, forced to sleep
outside without shelter, and have had only partial access to
fair refugee status determination procedure,~ Amnesty
International said.

      ~The decision of the Philippines Government to call a
halt to this situation shows there is another way.  There is
now no excuse for other governments in the region and the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) not to
follow their lead.~

      Amnesty International calls on other governments in the
region to ensure that measures taken in relation with the
Vietnamese asylum-seekers do not lead to ill-treatment.

      The recent ill-treatment of failed asylum-seekers
during repatriation from the Philippines to Viet Nam is a
reminder of the appalling situation in camps across the
region as the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) draws to a
close.

      On 14 February Philippine police clashed violently at
Puerto Princesa air base with about 1,000 Vietnamese asylum-
seekers who had stormed out of a camp onto the base to
prevent the voluntary return to Viet Nam of a group of 84
Vietnamese nationals. The Philippines authorities used water
cannons and tear gas to disperse protesting Vietnamese
demonstrators as they dragged people across the tarmac onto
the plane.  Following consultations with the Roman Catholic
Church the government announced on Thursday that such methods
will no longer be employed against failed asylum-seekers in
the country.

      ~The courageous decision of the Philippines Government
to uphold the rights and dignity of failed asylum seekers in
keeping with international standards sets a positive
precedent in the region.~

      Since a decision in January by host governments and the
UNHCR to ensure that the CPA to deal with the Vietnamese
asylum-seekers will end by July 1996, treatment of failed
asylum seekers in camps in Southeast Asia has become
increasingly harsh, amounting in some cases to ill-treatment.
      ~Tens of thousands of Vietnamese failed asylum-seekers
held in camps across Southeast Asia are being stripped of
their dignity and basic rights by governments and other
officials anxious to ensure they return to Viet Nam as soon
as possible,~ Amnesty International said.

      Tensions have risen throughout 1996, with increasingly
desperate measures by the asylum-seekers to prevent their
return home being met with violence by the security forces of
host governments.  Under the terms of the CPA, asylum-seekers
who have failed to qualify for refugee status should return
voluntarily to Viet Nam.  However, thousands are refusing to
do so, and some host governments have used increasing levels
of force to return these people.

      On 18 January, a police raid in the Malaysian camp of
Sungei Besi, on Pulau Bidong island, led to violence between
camp inmates and police and to the death by gunshot of an
inmate reportedly uninvolved in the violence, and the
wounding of at least one 15 year-old girl. Dozens of camp
inmates allegedly involved in violence were beaten after
arrest by police. For several days after the incident, camp
inmates were denied access to housing and forced to regroup
under rudimentary shelters. On 25 January, inmates returned
to the camp from detention in police premises were forced to
spend a night outside, with no adequate clothing and no
protection from rain.

      Education services for the thousands of Vietnamese
asylum-seekers who remain in Indonesia~s Galang Island camp
reportedly ended in late 1995. UNHCR presence and monitoring
of camp conditions are reported to have been minimal since
the refugee determination process ended at the camp in
October 1993.

      Asylum-seekers in Thailand~s Sikiew camp have
reportedly faced incommunicado detention in 1995 if they
complained about camp conditions and denial of refugee
status. The camp is reported to lack adequate social,
medical, food and water services. It was reported in December
1995 that those inmates who refused voluntary repatriation
were subjected to worse conditions of detention than others.

      Amnesty International understands the financial
constraints faced by UNHCR and host governments, and the
problems caused by the reluctance of failed asylum-seekers to
seek voluntary repatriation.  However, the organization
believes that the desire of governments and officials to
close camps in the region should not take place at the
expense of the fundamental human rights of those affected.

      ~Ill-treatment of failed asylum-seekers either in the
camps or during the repatriation process is not acceptable,~
Amnesty International said.

ENDS\











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