Malaysia Says It Will Turn Away Viet ‘Boat People’
Malaysia will in the future turn away Vietnamese “boat people” refugees, a government official said today, describing them as illegal immigrants.
Yusof Noor, a minister in the prime minister’s office, was quoted by the national news agency Bernama as saying Malaysia will start talks with third countries on speeding up resettlement of 5,000 refugees.
“There is a big possibility of the government setting a one-year period, from a date to be fixed later . . . to resettle the Vietnamese illegal immigrants,” he told reporters.
“Starting from that date, the government will no longer adopt a soft attitude to these illegal immigrants and will turn them away if they approach our shores,” he added.
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