PERSPECTIVE ON THE NEWS February 12, 1979 Issue

Man's true land

Enforced migrations and the sufferings of displaced and misplaced peoples have been a sad feature of recent decades.

The plight of the Vietnamese "boat people," refugees from Vietnam who have sailed in everything from fishing boats to rusted trawlers in search of freedom and a new start in life, has been much publicized. One recent report focused on the situation of approximately 20,000 who have found temporary asylum on a previously uninhabited Malaysian island, where they are awaiting clearance to locate permanently in whatever country is willing to take them in. In the meantime it is said they endure overcrowding, undernourishment, and poor sanitation while severely shorthanded governmental agencies interview them, process their applications, and search for sponsors.

Many of these people dream of going to the United States and other nations, but thousands face the prospect of long rootlessness while the search for homes goes on.

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