From: tnguyen@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Thang Nguyen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: [refugees] Boat People S.O.S. Newsletter, 12/92
Date: 24 Jan 93 18:15:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: oasys.30111
Reply-To: tnguyen@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Thang Nguyen)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD








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                      N E W S   B U L L E T I N

               ( E L E C T R O N I C   V E R S I O N )

                         ISSUE 22, December 1992
     

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A Joint Publication by Boat People S.O.S. and the Vietnamese
Refugee Sponsorship Coordinating Council of Canada 
P.O. Box 2652, Merrifield, VA 22116  USA

_______________________________________________________________
       
This monthly publication provides news regarding the plight of
the boat people and advocates for the protection of their
refugee rights and human dignity in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong
camps.  Boat People S.O.S. and the Vietnamese Refugee
Sponsorship Coordinating Council of Canada are non-profit
organizations. The content of the letters from the camps does
not necessarily reflect the view of this newsletter.

================================================================
BOAT PEOPLE PROTEST BROKEN PROMISE

SINGAPORE -- On November 7, Vietnamese boat persons in Hawkins 
Road Camp, Singapore, went on a prolonged hunger strike to
demand  the right to resettlement as promised and then reneged
by seven countries.

By November 23, twenty-two were hospitalized. Three men have
since  attempted suicide. 

This group of people were rescued at sea by merchant ships.
Under  an arrangement mediated by the United Nations High
Commissioner for  Refugees, Singapore allowed them to disembark
only when the country  under which the ship registered signed an
unconditional guarantee  to remove them within three months. 
However, these countries failed to honor their promise, leaving
many  of the rescuees in Singapore for up to three years. The
guarantor  countries include the United States, the United
Kingdom, the Netherlands,  Norway, Sweden, Germany and Denmark.

In August of 1991, the boat people were suddenly told by the
UNHCR  that they must be screened. As Singapore, not being a
signatory to  the Comprehensive Plan of Action, refused to
recognize screening,  the UNHCR decided to conduct the screening
themselves.

Some among the hunger  strikers  posited that UNHCR's screening
was  an impingement of Singapore's sovereignty and had no
validity on Singapore's  territory. 

Others, who have been denied refugee status by the UNHCR,
strongly  criticized the screening procedure citing the lack of
due process. 


According to them, a guideline titled "Information on Refugee 
Status Determination in Singapore" and distributed by the UNHCR 
stated that "You will be informed of the decision in writing. If
you  are denied refugee status, you will be given the reasons
for the negative  decision." However, the boat people declared
in a sworn statement  that they had never received any written
decisions from the UNHCR.  Those denied refugee status never
received reasons for the denial  and thus were deprived of the
opportunity to file a proper appeal.

Another ironical twist in this affair is that the UNHCR is also
responsible  for the appeals. In the words of one of the people
in the camp, "the  accused and the accuser were using the same
lawyers for the lawsuit".   

Singapore expressed sympathy for the hunger strikers and
continued  to press guarantor countries to keep their promise.

================================================================

FOOD CUTS IN CAMP RESTORED

WASHINGTON, DC -- The UNHCR acknowledged that there had been 
prolonged disruption in food distribution in Galang Camp,
Indonesia,  but stated that the problems were being corrected.

In his letter dated November 30 to  a number of non-governmental
organizations,  Mr. Werner Blatter, Director of the Bureau for
Asia and Oceania, assured  them that "UNHCR has never and will
never use food as a weapon to  coerce people into voluntary
repatriation", alluding to allegations  that the disruption in
food distribution was  premeditated.

Starting in May of this year, a number of serious cuts in food
rations  had caused boat people in Galang to launch distressing
calls for help  to organizations and relatives overseas.  In
subsequent months, there  was a marked increase in the number of
boat people registering to  return as well as in the number of
suicides. These incidents stirred  up strong feelings among the
Vietnamese community overseas.

Pressed by many advocacy groups, the U.S. State Department
decided  to send an envoy to inspect the conditions in Galang in
September,  after a number of items had been restored. The
envoy's report confirmed  that the disruption was not permanent
and  found no indication of  malnutrition in the general camp
population.

The State Department was later informed by the UNHCR that
instant  noodles had been restored in October and salt in early
December.  Soy  sauce, which was cut since May, had also been
restored in December.

At the same time, in a cable to the State Department, World Food
Program  announced  that starting in January, canned fish -- the
main staple  of boat people in Galang for the past three years -
- would now be  alternated with canned meat to make the diet
more palatable. 

While reaffirming UNHCR's humanitarian principles, Mr. Blatter
reminded  those found as non- refugees to seriously consider
voluntary repatriation,  since the international community would
not indefinitely sustain a  non-refugee population in the camp.

================================================================
INDONESIA PLANS TO RELOCATE BOAT PEOPLE

INDONESIA -- The Suara Pemba newspaper reported last month that 
the Indonesian government intended to move all boat people from
Galang  to free the island up for industrial development.

Galang camp has served as a first asylum for more than a decade
for  Indochinese boat people, a majority of which come from
Vietnam. Some  15,000 boat people who are currently seeking
asylum there would have  to be relocated as part of the local
government's plan to turn the  island into an industrial center
linking the surrounding islands.
================================================================
BOAT PEOPLE PROTEST UNHCR IN PHILIPPINES

PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES -- A hunger strike started  in early
December  by Vietnamese boat people in Palawan Camp culminated
in UNHCR's agreement  to hold regular monthly dialogue with the
camp residents.

The hunger strike began on Dec 1, when Reverend Thich Thong Dat
and  four of his Buddhist disciples fasted in front of the
UNHCR's office  to denounce religious oppression in Vietnam and
to protest the unfair  screening in Palawan.

The protest was quickly joined by many boat people, and various
organizations  in the camp. On the second day, the number peaked
to 700. Facing the  rapid increase of participants, the
Philippine government arranged  for the representatives of the
hunger strikers to meet with UNHCR  officials. The dialogue
turned into an argument between the parties.  When the meeting
was unilaterally cancelled by the UNHCR, the boat  people 
became furious, interpreting it as a lack of good faith and  an
act of disrespect. However, the vigil continued peacefully.

On the third day, the Philippine government gave up the
mediating  role and called for a cease to the strike. The boat
people persisted.

On the fifth day, 10 hunger strikers fainted and had to be
hospitalized.  The number shot up to 21 on the sixth day. Many
of them continued  to refuse food in the hospital. Some rejoined
the hunger strike after  discharge  from the hospital.

Due to the mounting tension and the degrading health condition
of  the hunger strikers, the Philippine Catholic Church decided
to intervene.  On Dec 10, a delegation, including Bishop San
Diego, Monsignor Tran  Van Tai and Reverend Nguyen Trong Tuoc,
successfully persuaded the  UNHCR officials to resume the
dialogue. In return, the boat people  voluntarily broke up the
demonstration. 

Two meetings took place on the 11 and the 14 of December and
contained  mostly disputes among the parties. Although UNHCR
acknowledged that  there were deficiencies in screening, the
agency refused to reconsider  the screened-out cases. 

The dialogue was set to resume in January, after the holidays.

================================================================
                    ***************************
                    * AROUND IN THE COMMUNITY *
                    ***************************

PROJECT NGOC'S FUNDRAISING -- Students of University  of
California at Irvine organized a fundraising dinner on October 
2, 1992 which collected about 6,000 dollars. Project Ngoc has in
the  past sent young students to work in the refugee camps and
to serve  as interns with Boat People S.O.S..

WALK-A-THON -- On Oct 28, 500 Vietnamese and Americans  marched
in downtown Orange County to denouce unfair screening in
Southeast  Asia and Hong Kong.  The event was organized by the
Union of Vietnamese  Student Associations of Southern
California.

MISSION IN CANADA -- In early November, Dr. Nguyen  Dinh Thang,
executive director of Boat People S.O.S., met with
representatives  from the Vietnamese community and Canadian
organizations in Montreal,  Ottawa, and Toronto to rally support
for the boat people.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT -- In late November, Dr. Thang toured 
California and talked to Vietnamese student associations at
UC/Berkeley,  UC/Davis, San Jose State University, and to
several organizations  in Southern California.  Dr. Thang
proposed ways to further coordinate  the community's advocacy
efforts on behalf of the boat people.

HOUSING FOR NEWCOMERS -- On Nov 8, the Vietnamese  community in
Ottawa, Canada, inaugurated a multi-million dollars housing 
complex reserved for low-income Vietnamese, many of whom
recently  arrived from Southeast Asian and Hong Kong camps.



                      ************************
                      *   WHAT'S A REFUGEE?  *
                      ************************

Mr. T. V. Le (MC 439006), an asylum seeker in Sungei Besi Camp, 
Malaysia, had suffered many forms of persecution in communist
Vietnam.  However, he has been denied refugee status by the
Malaysian officials.  The following is a summary of Mr. Le's
story before he escaped from  Vietnam.

Mr. Le joined the army of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1959.
As  an outstanding soldier in the battlefields, he was awarded
29 various  medals and promoted many times during his service.
He was serving  as Lieutenant Colonel when he was arrested by
the communists in April  1975. He was incarcerated for 7 years
and 6 months in eight different  re-education camps.

During those years, he had to endure ruthless tortures, beatings
and  forced labor. He was told by the communists that he had to
pay for  the crimes that he had committed against the communists
and because  of his high rank with the former regime, his
punishments would be  more severe. The punishments included
labor in the jungles, and carrying  human waste for a vegetable
plant for fertilizer.

When Mr. Le could not carry out his labor duty due to physical
exhaustion  caused by malnutrition, he was subjected to being
handcuffed, and  placed in an isolation cell for a week each
time.

Toward the end of his re-education term, he was afllicted by
rheumastism.  No medical care was provided and he had to go home
on crutches as  a result. While Mr. Le was in the re-education
camps, the communists  confiscated his family property. His wife
and children were left empty-handed  and expelled to the
countryside. She had difficulties finding employment  and all of
their children were denied education all because of Mr.  Le's
background.

After his release from the re-education camps in November 1982,
Mr.  Le was assigned residence in Ben Tre Province where the
local government  was known to be among the most vicious. Just
as he had feared, the  local authorities put him under house
surveillance even though the  release certificate did not
indicate so. In addition, the surveillance  term lasted for
three and a half years instead of the normal one year  applied
to other re-educated officers. During this period, Mr. Le  had
to regularly report his activities and whereabouts to the local 
police and to perform hard labor.

Mr. Le was not left alone after the house surveillance period.
His  house was frequently searched by the police. His
association with  military officers of the former regime and the
religious groups made  him even more of a target to be spied on.
His freedom of movement  was tightly controlled as a result.

Because of his background, Mr. Le's application for employment
with  governmental companies was rejected. He could only do odd
jobs for  local residents to sustain his living. On the New
Year's occasion  of 1987, he went to fish one night on Ham Luong
river hoping to find  some catches to help prepare for the
holiday. At midnight, he was  seen by the patrolling police.
Without any evidence, they accused  him of spying for the CIA
and took him in for interrogations.

After having endured many long years of mistreatment  and
constant  discrimination by the communists, Mr. Le found that he
and his family  could no longer live in fear and anxiety of
being spied on and of  being subjected to harassment in
everything they did. In 1989, they  managed to find their way
out of Vietnam and arrived in Malaysia where  they were denied
refugee status. 

                      *************************
                      * LETTER FROM THE CAMPS *
                      *************************

Following is a letter from a former camp resident of Sungei Besi 
Camp, Malaysia, who recently resettled in Canada. The content of
this  letter does not necessarily reflect the view of the
newsletter.

...the UNHCR and the Malaysian government have imposed a very 
strict and unfair policy on the Vietnamese people in the camp:

1. Screening: People like former Major Ky, former Captain Ha, 
former Lieutenant Ba, former Second Lieutenant Binh and many
other  former military officers have been screened out. Even
former Lieutenant  Chap who had been sent to the re-education
camp for 2 years and 9  months after 1975 and who carried with
him all supporting documents  was screened out as an economic
migrant!...

2. Voluntary repatriation: after having not met the quota for 
voluntary returnees, the UNCHR and the Malaysian government have
applied  "disincentives" to drive the boat people back to
Vietnam:

- Prohibition of the use of fire: this is the most objectionable 
policy since the camp residents need to  use  fire in emergency
situations  to heat up soups for the sick and the old, to get
lighting at nights  for parents to clean up their infants, to
heat up milk for their infants...  Anyone caught lighting a
candle is placed in detention and is required  to report to the
security task force at every hour for at least 15  days. 

- Food rationing for each person: lunch for every Monday and
Thursday  is a piece of tofu of the size of three fingers. Lunch
for every Wednesday  is a broiled egg. This kind of food ration
is barely enough for one  to survive on, so how can one be able
to fight epidemics?

- Ban of cultural activities: English as A Second Language
classes  were closed down a long time ago. Any gathering of more
than six persons  has to be approved. The high school is to be
shut down this December.  This is a great worry for  parents in
the camp since there is no other  education available for their
children. The UNHCR claims that there  is no budget available. I
think this is a poor excuse, since the teachers  are volunteer
camp residents. The UNHCR only has to provide chalks  and
papers! When I left the camp, the teachers asked me to plead to 
overseas organizations for help in preventing the only school in
the  camp from being closed down.

- Promote only news and informations from Vietnam: there exist 
two centers of information in the camp run by the UNHCR and the
Red  Crescent. One center often shows the films made in
communist Vietnam  and circulates communist magazines and
newspapers widely. However,  those furnished by the Vietnamese
communities from overseas are placed  under strict censorship.

... After seven years spent in communist prisons, I can say 
that  the camp situation since August of this year is worse in
Sungei Besi  than in a communist prison camp... I don't know
what else to do except  to cry out for the people still in the
camp and hope that the communities  overseas will feel some of
the hardship and desperation of the camp  people!

Signed,


  ==============================================================
        
  Editorial Staff: Dr. Le Duy Can, Chau Barr, Nguyen Xuan      
Thuong, Dieu-Hien, Tuong Vi Bui

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