asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of Vietnamese and Kampuchean refugees who have died either in endeavouring to escape their country, on the high seas or in refugee camps.

I have seen reports which suggest that a high proportion of those attempting to leave Vietnam or Cambodia have died, and some media reports suggest that 50 per cent to 75 per cent of those leaving by sea are lost. However, I feel that in the present circumstances it would not be possible to have accurate and detailed figures.

An accurate estimate of the number of deaths in refugee camps is not yet available from the office of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees.

Would the Minister agree with the general estimate that the number of people who have died would be of the order of 250,000?

I would agree that there have been consistent reports to that effect. I hope to be better armed with actual data in this context as a result of my attendance at the UN Conference on Refugees at the weekend.

Would the Minister further agree that this is an international catastrophe of a scale which we have not known since the last war?

I certainly do. We have expressed that view and we hope to express it on behalf of the nine member states of the EEC.