AMERICAN POLICY: AID KHMERS, BUT DON'T RILE THAIS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01554R003300120070-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 22, 2005
• Sequence Number: 70
• Publication Date: June 26, 1980
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved Folease 2005/09/28: CIA-RDP80B015003300120070-0
Tape 28
Side A, 4 1/2 - 4 9/16
NOTE FOR: Gary
FROM: DCI
,I JUL 19'
I'd like to talk to you about retrieving some material from the
Reflections Folders.
yj,,~-t, 6- -,&V
Approved For Release 2005/09/28 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300120070-0
 ARTICLE
ON PAGE.
For ReleasA: 10B01554R003300120070-0
26 JUNE 1980
By Rod Nordland
fnq &frer Sip Wnfsr . - - ~' ? ? ' t
BANGKOK US. policy; here has
been to support Thailand.arid the
other? non communist." Southeast
Asian countries in their=efforts to,
find.. a diplomatic solution to the
Cambodian problem;-, 17% . -
Most officials. ?would+ agree with a .
remark made by Rep Elizabeth Holtz
man (D-N.Y.) shortly after she visit
ed Phnom Penh' last November. "The.
ultimate solution to. the.Cambadian
problem? I think it will have to-be
political solution if. there are any
people left by then,'. she said .:. ' '
The U.S. refugee coordinator, Vi'
for Palmieri;. has urged that cross
border feeding operations and other
relief programs be continued; ? And
the United States, has- pledged to
underwrite one-third of the, costs- of
the total relief efforts on the part: of
the internationalcommunity.
But Palmieri- and,=other officials.,
have quietly assented to the policy of.
not resettling Cambodian refugees in
third countries:-.'except for those
with; immediate family abroad. And
U.S.. officials have never sought an
ry`;of. diplomatic.?:visits by,-top+V1 t-
Lucrca iu ruzukrjee quvia:rivproriue on-going debate in Thailand on the
for the resettlement of Cambodians Years of rule, from 1975 to early 1979.
have a refugee aove ey impact, And it might''
The U.S. Refugee Office in the U.S. The Khmer Rouge has retained the l also official
also negative
embassy here has, however; set up a Cambodian seat in the United Na Thai government'
responset to on the any-
. s'
i
Khmer Emergency Group, which has ,t lions, and the United States, Thailand: new influx of Khmer," Palmieri said.
monitored. the circumstances of and. the other ASEAN (S)utheast
Given those immediate concerns,.
Cambodian refugees and .often: lob. Asian non-communist).' nations con; U.S. officials- have, made' no initia-
bied for better treatment of the refu.=
gees by the. Thais. ,
And the embassy along with Inter.
nationat ?,'agencies .-has. quietly.
brought- considerable. pressure to
bear on, the Thai government to shel-
-ter Cambodians, and.' not, repatriate
them. Thailand Is-a firm U.S. ally and
the recipient of'iarge_ foreign aid
grants and military arms.
US. refugee officials have pushed
to, have Cambodian#.refugees consid-
ered' as candidates: for: resettlement
within the existing. US._. quotas of
14,000 refugees . a month.'. But, Thai
land and the U,N,,High. Commission--
er for Refugees.. (UNhiCR).:have
unwilling-to-negotiate the issue; and_
refused to cooperate, unless .the Quo-
tas are- increased.. They argue that
other refugee groups already in Thai
.land must be resettled first.
US. officials regard the Cambodian-
refugee issue asan impasse that will
not. be: broken``until, there is; some.
sort' of diplomatic settlement of the
issue of the Vietnamese presence in
Cambodia..
?:-Vietnamese troops invaded in
December 1978 and,now occupy the
country. The rationale given for the
invasion- was that the Chinese-
backed regime of Pol Pot had. threat-
ened- Vietnam's -security, and that
Vietnam bad come into- the. country
at the invitation of the. government
of Heng..Samrin,. who is generally
regarded asaclient ruler for Hanoi.
On Nov. 14, the United Nations, in a
resounding defeat: for. Vietnam, de-
clared the occupation unwarranted
and called for Vietnam's withdrawal,
.The, United Nations:.continues to
recognize the Pol, Pot regime as
..Cambodia's-?legitimate government
although most member nations de-
plored. the atrocities committed by
tinue-to recognize that government r Lives - at:'least:publicly toward
:
The ASEAN position; supported by arranging for resettlement o? refu
the United States;-.is that the Hanoi gees from Cambodia : .
government.. should withdraw its, `i-The current. refugee intakestands,
troops and the United Nations should at a total of 231;700 refugees for, fiscal
sponsor. free elections with the aim- year 1980, and the Carter administrao
of"establishing a neutral Cambodia. tion has proposed keeping the figure'
Presumably, under such - a -settle-- at that level for next year: This total'
meat, a large proportion of the refu- includes 168,000 Indochinese refu-.
gees, or 14,000 per month, and the:
gees would be~ willing to return to ,
,their,homeland. administration has sought to keep
U.S. intelligence sources say the
occuPa ton o am la, an ne
continued _zLierri l warfare with the
Khmer Rouge are costing titetnam's
sponsor the3ovtet union, 5f mil{tan
a ay in mi itary aid.
And Vietnam has plenty of its own
problems, with post-war. reconstruc-
tion and. a food shortage as the result's
of several :years of poor- crops, that i
tnighj recline it toward a solution.
r. Pending any kind- of diplomatic
breakthrough, U.S. policy on the
Cambodian refugees has centered on
assuring Thailand that it will main-
taro its commitment to take the early:
Vietnamese and, Laotian refugees,
-.and to continue a high level of finan-
cial support.. m ny.
'Arguing- before Congress 'against:
any cutbacks in U.S. quotas, Palmieri,
the U.S. coordinator for refugees,.
warned that. Thailand - as.well as.
.other countries. in the region -
"would view a cutback as'a breach of
our repeated assurances. of"support?
and they might feel that there.is no-
..recourse but to refuse asylum to new
arrivals, as they-did last spring.
'Lessening of. international and'
particularly United. States support
..could have an adverse effect on the.
"But Efanotas declared the situa well.".
or
in Cambodia "irreversible," The balance of the US refugee
refusing to withdraw. its troops as intake will -be made up,;of refugees ii
`"long as.it' believes that China.repre largely from communisr'.countries,
supplying arms to the Pot Potguerril-
las, K, b - r T(~r1
But Haaot ,has nor showti: itself
Approved For Ri?M
i
with 19,500 from Cuba and 38,000.
from the Soviet Union and Eastern
s Europe.
U.S. officials say it would be...unreal
istic to. expect an increase in those
totals to provide for resettlement of`
Cambodians in theUnited States, ands
B1i$5DC911~t01X@~~ the
US'. le_ that'policy- ,k.