PHILIPPINES: FORCED REPATRIATION OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES скачать в хорошем качестве

PHILIPPINES: FORCED REPATRIATION OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES

(14 Feb 1996) English/Nat Hundreds of Vietnamese refusing to return to their homeland blocked an airport runway in the Philippines on Wednesday but were unable to stop a plane from repatriating 89 asylum-seekers. Soldiers twice used water cannons to disperse the crowd, which rushed out of a refugee camp next to the airport in Puerto Princesa, minutes after the Air Vietnam plane landed. The use of force violated a pledge made by President Fidel Ramos on Tuesday that no Vietnamese would be compelled to return home. Vietnamese asylum seekers clashed with soldiers as they tried to block the airport runway in Puerto Princesa, 590 kilometres southwest of Manila. The crowd's aim was to stop a Vietnam Airlines flight from taking off and carrying 89 people back to their homeland. Military soldiers had to use water canons to disperse the crowd and clear the runway for take-off. SOUNDBITE: "Help us, please help us." SUPER CAPTION: Vietnamese Asylum seeker As the plane landed, soldiers loaded the refugees' personal belongings into the plane. Those waiting in the departure lounge cried as they waited to be boarded for the flight. Two lines of soldiers stood guard as the 89 Vietnamese, men, women and children, walked towards the waiting aircraft. One of them tried to break away from the group and had to be bodily carried into the plane. The refugees have resisted repatriation and have even threatened to commit suicide if they are forced to go home. Despite the resistance, the Chief of the Western Command overseeing the camp says those who left were volunteer repatriates. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Oh yeah, because there are people there, as I told the other group this morning, there are Vietnamese who are resisting and preventing these people from leaving, this are people who really want to go back to Vietnam and that is why there are only about 90 of them. And this are the only people that we brought and boarded in this plane today." SUPER CAPTION: Major General Carlos Tanega, Chief Western Command Most of the Vietnamese have been declared ineligible for asylum in other countries because they are considered economic migrants, not refugees. About 500 have escaped from the camp, on the island of Palawan which still holds around 2,400 people. The government wants to close it later this year. As the plane departed, some Vietnamese raised clenched fists in protest while others waved goodbye. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...