News In Brief

Pope calls for solution for Indochina's refugees

Pope John Paul II ended a 10-day tour of Asia and the Pacific Saturday by appealing for the world not to forget the plight of Indochinese refugees. In his most comprehensive statement to date on the refugee problem, the Pope said mere resettlement could never be the final answer. He called on the international community to work out long-range political solutions to enable refugees to return to their homelands.

He said it was ''repugnant and abnormal'' for people to have to leave their homelands because of racial, ethnic, political, or religious considerations or because of danger of violence or even death from civil strife or political turmoil.