Question
Prime Minister, what did you think of your visit today?
Prime Minister
I think it is one of the best run camps I have ever been to. It's run by both the religious authorities, by the United Nations Relief agencies. Many of the people here are volunteers and loving it and of course the people are looking forward to the time when they can go home.
But in the meantime, they are being taught all the practical things, the crafts, the children as you can see are being taught. There are good, or reasonable, hospital facilities, and the mothers are taught good nutrition and hygiene and so on.
I think one of the problems, although they can keep the young people occupied with school, is probably to keep the adults occupied. They have a little bit of land round their own bamboo hut.
The other interesting thing is that each family has its own bamboo hut so they each have their own family life to go to so they keep that tradition very well alive and you can see they keep the cultural life from the dancing which Prince Sihanouk 's daughter taught them.
Question
The Cambodian resistance, of which Prince Sihanouk is a member, say that they need more arms to fight the Vietnamese. Is Britain prepared to help out?
Prime Minister
We hope that the Vietnamese are going to withdraw, as they have indicated that they will. There is now a programme for them to withdraw and then the problem now is how to get both an orderly return of refugees and how to ensure that the Pol Pot regime is not returned.
I am told that there is an enormous difference between these camps, where the relief agencies come in and there is a regular distribution of food every week, properly nutritionally balanced for each family, and the other camps which are run by the Khmer Rouge where some of the relief agencies are not allowed in.
Question
Prime Minister were you moved by anything you have seen today?
Prime Minister
Did you see the children, they were fantastic? And I think what I hadn't realised, in the rainy season here, that the people get bronchial problems, get asthma, bronchial problems, pneumonia, and that is why quite a number of the adults were in hospital today and malaria is also a problem. You can see sometimes when mother goes into the hospital, some of the children, the smaller ones, have to be with her.
They are doing very wonderful things with very ordinary facilities, but they are making the most of them. [end p1]
Question
Prince Sihanouk was obviously very pleased to see you today and he placed great store by your being here. What now, how does the diplomatic effort move forward?
Prime Minister
Well you know that we had the Informal Conference in Jakarta and some proposals were put forward there. Now there is a Committee which will continue the work from there. This is the first time they have got together and I think it's not the specific proposals but the fact that they did get together and are now talking about the kind of regime they want when they go back and of course they want free elections. But everyone, having suffered under Pol Pot, and you know we saw some of the terrible pictures and accounts of the atrocities at home and I think we were all perturbed that we couldn't do something about it and the United Nations couldn't do anything about it, they want to know before they go home that they are never going to be subjected to that again.
That is the difficulty and for that we shall undoubtedly need for the solution of the whole thing some very constructive help both of the Russians, who have been very foremost in bringing pressure to bear on the Vietnamese to withdraw, and also the help of the Chinese with regard to Pol Pot.
Question
Will Britain be directly involved in the process from now on?
Prime Minister
We are a kind of backstop in a way because you remember that before China took a prominent part in the United Nations, there was the Geneva Conference of 1954 which was Russian and British.
Now that is a kind of backstop. Most of the work now is done, I think rightly, through the United Nations because I think in a way the whole world is saying it knows how much Cambodia has suffered, it knows how generous Thailand has been. In a way it's world opinion asserting itself in a way which one hasn't quite seen before.
I think that will be an enormous help to those who are negotiating but I think that the work should be done through the United Nations because again we see the effect of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council working together in Iran/Iraq. Now you have another problem here, and provided we stick together perhaps these people have more hope than they have had for a long time.
Question
Do you think Washington should take a stronger role?
Prime Minister
Look, I think Washington, as I indicated, the five Permanent Members of the Security Council, who working together managed for example to get the Resolution on Iran/Iraq. Now if we all keep together, because it does need us to do that, but even something as large as the United Nations always needs a lead and now the five are working together that gives more hope to the world than it has before and it looks as if we are being able, because of that cooperation, because of the different view which the Soviet Union and China are now taking, it looks as if we have more possibility [end p2] of resolving some of these long-standing problems which should uplift us all, but particularly the people here.
You see a lot of these people have never known anything other than life in this camp. Now I can only say the great impression I have is that when these people go home from this camp they will make very very good citizens of Cambodia.