From: lien@berlioz.nsc.com (Lien Nguyen)
Subject: [REFUGEE] Letter from DONGREK.
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Reply-To: lien@berlioz.nsc.com
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 08:36:42 GMT


Dear Netters,

This letter was written by Father Pierre Ceyrac to Aid to Refugee
Children w/o Parents Inc. on the situation at DongRek camp.
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Oct. 3rd, 1992
DongRek, Thailand

I hope you have received ( or will receive soon ) my letter of last
week, from Bangkok, thanking you for the check of 1000 dollars. The
amount has already been giving to the people concerned.

The " interview " conducted at the New Arrivals centre for the people
of Section 19 are already concluded: Some 300(+) cases covering some
800 or 900 persons ( all those having the TC No. ) in all. The
results have not yet been made public. The purpose of the interview
was to ascertain the nationality of the people interviewed: whether or
not Vietnamese nationals.

But the fate of our people is not yet decided. Remains the last and
most important step: they should be recognized as being convered by
the CPA agreement. Apparently they are not yet included in the
original group of pre-cutoff date Vietnamese (some 52000 or 54000)
who were declared eligible for Resettlement in 1989.... The steering
committee of the CPA has still to make a decision on this point.
I met the US embassy last week, and I was told that the decision is
likely to be left to the Embassies concerned, in Bangkok. When will
they meet? We do not know as yet... Maybe this month, maybe the next
month. It is only then, that our people (I mean, those among them 
proved to be " pre-cutoff" and Vietnamese nationals) will be moved out
of Site two, hopefully to Phanat Nikhom.... It may take still 2 or 3
months.

I am very distressed by all these long delays and I intend going again
this week to Bangkok, to try to contact the embasies concerned. But
what an endless process... and meanwhile, our people are deeply worry
about their future... Any help on your part and part of your friends
will be welcomed!

Yours Sincerely,

Father Pierre Ceyrac.

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VOICE YOUR CONCERNS, LEND A HAND.......

Please help raise the concerns for the people of Section 19 to the
UNHCR. Your letter may make a difference to the many lives languishing
in DongRek, awaiting. If you do not have time to write a personal
letter, below is a sample letter to use.

* Mrs Sadako Ogata
  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee
  Case Postale 2500-CH1211
  Geneve 2 Depot, Switzerland

* American Embassy
  95 Wireless Road
  Bangkok 10330
  Thailand


Dear .....

We are grateful for the efforts you are making to resolve the
difficult problem of the asylum seekers awaiting screening, or who
have been screened out. We would like to request your further
attention to these remaining isues involving the asylum seekers:

First, as has been widely reported by many sources, including the
UNHCR itself, asylum seekers have remained in the camps entirely too
long - in some cases for many years.
Second, as has been widely reported, the number of persons screened in
has been too few. This is especially evident in the cases of (1)
unaccompanied minors, (2) former South Vietnamese government
civillians, political and military officials and their families, and
(3) the beleaguered Vietnamese citizens of Section 19, Site 2,
Thailand, half of them are children. Some of these people have
languished in this camp since 1982; many have suffered persecution in
Vietnam, and many are likely to be persecuted again if they repatriated.
Third, many countries and officials, including officials from the
UNHCR, agree that mistakes have been made in the screening process,
and have advocated changes in the procedure.

We urgently recommend that you give the utmost and foremost
consideration to the Section 19 asylum seekers, the unaccompanied
minors, and to the political,civillian and military personnel of the
former government of South Vietnam. On humanitarian grounds, we
recommend that you grant these people refugee status, let them be
resettled and go on with their lives as productive citizens in
countries of resettlement that will take them. This solution is far
better than sending them back to Vietnam, where they face the likely
prospect of continuing discrimination.

Sincerely yours,