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GV Refugees fleeing along Highway twenty-two
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GV Woman distributing bread to refugees (2 shots)
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GV Refugees walking along highway
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GV Rice being distributed at Hieu Tien
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TV Crowd waiting to get rice
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GV Red Cross officer distributes rice
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MV Crowd (2 shots)
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GV Man with bag of rice on shoulder
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GV Man scooping rice into bag
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Initials BB/1545 JW/AW/BB/1615



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Thousands of refugees from the Khmer Republic are streaming into South Vietnam's Tay Ninh Province, some 55 miles (90 kilometres) north-west of the capital, Saigon.

Throughout Indochina many thousands have been made homeless since communist forces -- in both the Khmer Republic and South Vietnam -- launched their offensive on New Year's Day.

The refugees -- mostly from the Parrot's Beak area in the Khmer Republic -- were given protection by South Vietnamese helicopters as they walked down Highway 22 to the district town of Hieu Tien.

Various charitable organisations from Saigon met the refugees as they trekked to Hieu Tien, distributing bread and food. Nearly all the refugees arrived in South Vietnam on foot, carrying only the belongings they could bring with them.

In Hieu Tien, rice was distributed to both the Khmer and Vietnamese refugees there. The local refugees had been made homeless in the fighting that has flared up on Tay Ninh Province.

The number of refugees in South Vietnam has reached unprecedented levels recently. Aside from those who have fled into the country from the Khmer Republic, more than 300,000 refugees are reported to be fleeing to the coast region from the Central Highlands in a mass exodus.