WORLD : Philippines Bar Boat People
The Philippines today refused for the first time to accept Vietnamese boat people rescued by American ships at sea unless the United States guarantees to resettle them elsewhere.
The 101 people have been stranded at the U.S. Subic Bay naval station north of Manila since May 30 after being picked up from two wooden boats in the South China Sea by the Beaufort.
“We are not prepared to accept asylum seekers in open-ended cases without any commitment when and how they will be resettled,” said Romualdo Ong, director general for Asia and Pacific Affairs at the Foreign Office.
Officials said Manila’s refusal to automatically accept the Vietnamese was a protest against U.S. opposition to a planned forcible repatriation to Vietnam of boat people who do not qualify for refugee status.
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