
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990                   TAG: 9007130104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: GENEVA                                LENGTH: Short

VIETNAMESE REFUGEE CONFERENCE POSTPONED

A 28-nation conference on Vietnamese boat people was postponed when it became apparent that differences between the United States and Vietnam on one side and other Southeast Asian nations and Hong Kong on the other have not been bridged.

At the Geneva headquarters of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, under whose auspices the meeting was to be held, the indefinite postponement on Wednesday was considered a setback to the principle of first asylum.

Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia reluctantly have allowed the Vietnamese to land on their shores since the refugees began leaving in 1975. There they are maintained in camps at international expense until they can find permanent refuge.

Increasingly, however, these countries have balked at continuing to play that role.

- The New York Times

by CNB