INDOCHINESE REFUGEES

Throughout non-Communist Asia thousands of unfortunate refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia languish in makeshift camps. For most, the future offers frightening prospects; social ostracism in the countries to which they fled, endless unemployment, and-even worse-deportation to their homelands resulting in almost certain death.

We deplore the monstrous conditions that have forced them to flee--political arrests and executions, forced marches, death from disease and starvation, and the murder of those who attempt to escape.

Tens of thousands of Vietnamese citizens have fled, risking their lives. Since the only land route out of Vietnam is into Cambodia, the Vietnamese escape in small and unseaworthy coastal craft across the typhoon waters of the South China Sea. Passing ships have ignored their distress signals in violation of the law of the sea because shipping companies are economically penalized by Southeast Asian countries for unloading refugees. More than half of the "boat people" are thought to have drowned.

About 100,000 refugees are now in camps in Thailand. An additional 7,500 Vietnamese "boat people" await resettlement. An estimated 4,500 Vietnamese and Laotian refugees arrive every month in non-Communist Southeast Asia. Most Cambodians who attempt escape are killed by Khmer Rouge troops or by border mines.

Many well-meaning Americans have argued that action on this pressing problem is unworkable in economic terms and potentially explosive. We recognize the scandalous state of America's economy, and we realize that any program to assist these refugees will entail modest economic costs. Yet, we oppose the dehumanizing tendency of placing price tags on the heads of In­dochinese refugees.

In the past, America has displayed an uncanny ability to adapt to unusual and seemingly impossible situations. We believe that America can once again reach out to an embattled group and offer safe haven and hope.

We call upon President Carter and the United States Congress to facilitate the entrance of these refugees into the United States. There should be no arbitrary numerical limits. This is not a problem that can be answered with partial solutions.

Through our arduous struggle for civil, political and economic rights in America, we have learned a fundamental lesson: the battle against human misery is indivisible. Our continuing struggle for economic and political freedom is inextricably linked to the struggle of Indochinese refugees who also seek freedom.

Moreover, we have a special obligation to aid the refugees from Indochina, in the light of our long and ultimately unsuccessful involvement in the conflict in that region.

The American Federation of Teachers calls upon the Administration to work with other countries, using both example and persuasion, to guarantee all these refugees a home.