The Foreign Ministers reviewed the problem of the Vietnamese boat people in the countries of temporary refuge (CTR). They emphasized their concern over the unrelenting influx of the boat people for the past fifteen years. The severe socioeconomic and political costs imposed on CTR have become intolerable and cannot be continued.

The Foreign Ministers underlined that ASEAN countries respectively committed themselves to the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) subject to a durable solution of the problem within the time frame agreed to at the International Conference on Indochinese Refugees held in Geneva in June 1989.

The Foreign Ministers emphasized that the implementation of the CPA must conclude with the resettlement of all refugees and the repatriation of all non-refugees. In the meantime, there need to be an acceleration of measures to effectively and progressively reduce the camp population in the CTR.

The Foreign Ministers reaffirmed the need for the CPA to be implemented in a balanced and coordinated manner. They regretted the fact that while the CTR have been pressured to continue to provide temporary refuge, two countries have chosen to ignore fundamental elements of the CPA. Vietnam, as the country of origin, has failed to take effective measures to prevent the clandestine departure of its citizens. Vietnam and the United States have refused to accept the involuntary repatriation of non-refugees. This position is inconsistent with internationally accepted practice, risks establishing precedents that will lead inevitably to a breakdown of international understanding on the treatment of asylum seekers and, in particular, threatens the very integrity of the CPA. Furthermore, the implementation of involuntary repatriation will serve as an effective deterrent to the continuing exodus of the boat people.

The Foreign Ministers reiterated the proposal in the Statement by the CTR Meeting in Manila on 16 May 1990 that there is an obligation on any country that opposes the involuntary repatriation of non-refugees to offer an effective intermediate solution, such as the setting up and financing on its own territory of a regional holding centre for all non-refugees, as envisaged in the CPA. The Foreign Ministers deeply regretted that Vietnam and the United States, in opposing involuntary repatriation, have refused to provide for effective intermediate solutions. The responsibility for the collapse of the CPA rests entirely with those who insist on the selective implementation of the CPA.

The Foreign Ministers, recalling the Statement by the CTR of 16th May, 1990 in Manila, noted that the deadline for the ending of the moratorium on repatriation of non refugees has passed without any resolution of this problem. In the absence of effective intermediate solutions by those blocking its resolution, the Foreign Ministers reiterated the sovereign right of the CTR to take such actions as they deem necessary, in a more coordinated and concerted manner, to safeguard their national interests including the abandoment of temporary refuge.

The Foreign Ministers expressed the view that it will not be purposeful to convene the next Steering Committee Meeting unless and until there are clear indications of political willingness by the two countries concerned to effectively address and deal with the question of involuntary repatriation.