The World - News from May 29, 1988

Southeast Asian countries where Vietnamese refugees have fled said that Hanoi must take back all those who are not legitimate refugees. In a statement at the end of a four-day meeting in Thailand, the countries suggested a U.N. screening system to weed out those “boat people” who leave merely to seek a more prosperous life and proposed talks with Vietnam to persuade it to take them back. The statement said the recent increase in refugees, many of them economic emigrants, has created critical conditions in some countries. Attending were representatives of Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong and relief agencies.