From: tnguyen@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Thang Nguyen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: [Refugees] Boat People SOS News Bulletin, June 92
Date: 21 Jul 92 21:34:43 GMT
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 19, JUNE 1992
       

  --------------------------------------------------------------
  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.

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

                             EDITORIAL

  The   remarks   of  two   prominent   UNHCR   officials  at   the
  International  Forum on  the Implementation of the  Comprehensive
  Plan  of Action last   April  were insensitive  and inappropriate
  but not  surprising.  In  the   past, UNHCR  officials have  made
  similarly abusive  remarks to  a community   which had  supported
  and financially contributed to that international  agency.  

  In a radio  interview late last  year, the UNHCR Chef  de Mission
  in  Hong Kong,  accused Vietnamese organizations in  resettlement
  countries    of creating  "false  hope that  [the    CPA] can  be
  changed, that at  some  point in time [the  boat people] could be
  resettled... In  my opinion,   this  amounts to  a crime...  It's
  unconscionable to  leave unaccompanied  minors  in the  camps for
  many  years and months   because of  false hopes   given to their
  parents".   In  reality, unaccompanied  minors languish   in Hong
  Kong detention centre simply because of UNHCR's incompetence   in
  carrying  out  the special  procedure  designed  to expedite  the
  screening  of unaccompanied  minors.  Under strong  international
  criticisms,  the   UNHCR  had to  fire  its coordinator  for  the
  special procedure late  last  year. The government of  Hong Kong,
  impatient with the pace of UNHCR,  had to  by-pass the agency and
  interviewed a  number of unaccompanied   minors itself.   Blaming
  others  for his  own  faults,  the    Chef de  Mission    does  a
  disservice to UNHCR's standing as a responsible agency.

  Even  more outrageous  were the  remarks  by the  UNHCR's Special
  Advisor   on  Public Information,  based in  Bangkok,  during his
  tour  of  the United    States  in early  1990  to  speak to  the
  Vietnamese community.   To the  plea by  the community that UNHCR
  treat unaccompanied  minors  with care    and understanding,  the
  UNHCR  special advisor  responded that parents   of  these minors
  should be tried  for child abuse. To the appeal  that  UNHCR give
  special attention  to victims of piracy,  he quipped that   these
  victims brought the tragedy  onto themselves by leaving  Vietnam.
  And  to the  Vietnamese community's utmost surprise,  he declared
  that Hong  Kong's 10% screen-in  rate was too generous. He  added
  that  in his   own opinion, only  one percent should be  screened
  in  as  refugees.     Ironically,    yielding  to   international
  criticisms, Hong Kong has since increased   its screen-in rate to
  20%.   Such a biased and negative  attitude by  a prominent UNHCR
  official leaves one to question  its commitment  to   fairness in
  screening and  humane treatment of boat  people in first   asylum
  countries. 

  Despite  such  inexplicable  conduct   of    a  number  of  UNHCR
  officials,     the   Vietnamese  community   continued  to   seek
  opportunities for  dialogue   and  cooperation  with the  agency.
  This time  again, Vietnamese  participants   came  to the  recent
  forum in  good faith  only to  be insulted by  UNHCR   officials.
  Their  attitude  and remarks  at  the  forum were  simply  beyond
  tolerance. 

  The Vietnamese  community can not help but question whether those
  few   UNHCR officials  truly represent the  agency's beliefs  and
  position.    If not,  the  community  is eager  to  learn of  the
  corrective measures  the  agency will  take to  clarify its  true
  position and  to avoid similar incidents  in the future.  If yes,
  then the community  is truly sorrowed to watch the  agency betray
  its mandate and principles and tarnish its good name.


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

  HONG KONG FORCIBLY REPATRIATES VIETNAMESE REFUGEES

  HONG  KONG  -- Hong  Kong  forcibly  repatriated a  group  of  38
  Vietnamese  boat people  on June 12th of  this year in an  effort
  to empty all nine  Hong Kong camps in three years.

  Police escorted  21 men,  7  women, 4  boys and  6  girls onto  a
  Hercules  C-130 transport plane bound for  Hanoi.  One Vietnamese
  man  was screaming   and  kicking and had  to be  forced onto the
  plane by  security police.   One  of the  returnees was  arrested
  upon  arrival in  Hanoi for  an alleged    burglary he  committed
  before fleeing to Hong Kong.

  This  is  the  first  forcible  repatriation  since  the  May  12
  agreement    between Britain  and  Hanoi  on the  return  of  all
  Vietnamese boat people  who are denied  refugee status. There are
  about 54,000 Vietnamese who   are still detained in the Hong Kong
  camps.  Only about 3,500 out  of  the 26,000 people who have been
  screened so  far are  classified as   refugees and thus  eligible
  for  resettlement. The rest have  been labeled  economic migrants
  and  are  to  be   returned  under  the  mandatory   repatriation
  program.

  The returnees face uncertain future in Vietnam.   Their safety is
  not   guaranteed in any  way since, due to  the increasing number
  of returnees,    the  currently  short-staffed  UNHCR  monitoring
  system became  inadequate.   As  John  Pomfret of the  Associated
  Press reported, one  Vietnamese woman  responded to  a journalist
  as she  awaited the return:   "I will never  be  free, I am going
  back  to Vietnam...   Nobody knows  what will happen   to us. And
  can anyone really help us once we're back home?"

  In  Hong  Kong camps,  boat  people  reacted to  this  policy  of
  repatriation  by  force with  waves of demonstrations  and hunger
  strikes.   In Malaysia,  boat  people threatened mass  suicide if
  forcibly repatriated.

                       ***************************

  UNHCR TURNS FORUM INTO FURY

  WASHINGTON  DC   --   At   the   International   Forum   on   the
  Implementation   of  the  Comprehensive Plan  of  Action held  in
  Washington DC on April  25, UNHCR  officials accused the overseas
  Vietnamese of  undermining   the CPA.   These remarks turned  the
  forum, intended  to foster understanding  and cooperation between
  the UNHCR and the Vietnamese community overseas,  into a fury. 

  Mr. Jamshid Anvar,  Director of the Bureau for Asia  and Oceania,
  and   Dr.  Shamsul Bari,  UNHCR representative  for Malaysia  and
  also  the Regional   Coordinator  for Status  Determination, made
  several remarks which Vietnamese  attendants considered abusive.

  In his speech,  Dr. Bari blamed the Vietnamese community  for the
  criminal  activities  in the camps which, according to  him, were
  fueled  by  the   some  30  million dollars  sent  by  Vietnamese
  overseas each year.  Mr.   Bari then told overseas Vietnamese  to
  stop  sending money to the camps   and to urge their relatives to
  return  to  Vietnam.   Mr.  Bari  also accused    the  Vietnamese
  community  of "sniping  at  [UNHCR] all  the  time" instead    of
  cooperating with that agency.  

  These remarks  caused fury among the audience. Several attendants
  pointed    out  that,   with  such  irresponsible  attitude   and
  groundless accusations,  the UNHCR should not expect  respect and
  cooperation from the  Vietnamese  community and  the boat people.
  One attendant pointed out that UNHCR  had  failed to protect boat
  people against crimes committed by camp   guards and bad elements
  and called on UNHCR to stop its plan to reduce  food  ration in a
  number of camps.  Without outside  financial  support,  many boat
  people would not  survive under the food ration   administered by
  the UNHCR. 

  To Mr. Anvar's  repeated assertion of his  satisfaction  with the
  fairness    in screening,  the  audience quoted  a  recent report
  published  by  the   Lawyers  Committee  for  Human  Rights which
  pointed out  serious flaws   in the  screening procedure in  Hong
  Kong.  Mr. Anvar retorted  that  the report was unscientific  and
  that  the editor of  the report  had  apologized  to him  for the
  unscientific  work.   A  Vietnamese  lawyer,    associate of  the
  Lawyers Committee, expressed  surprise that he was  not  aware of
  any  admitment  of  mistake  or  of  any   such  apology  by  his
  committee.

  The forum ended in a stalemate and left the attendants   outraged
  with   UNHCR's conduct. In  an official follow-up statement  sent
  to UNHCR  headquarters,  the attendants expressed great  surprise
  and deep disappointment   at  the insensitivity displayed  by the
  UNHCR at the forum. 

  Prior to  the forum, over  sixty Vietnamese  organizations across
  the   United States had issued  a joint statement  boycotting the
  forum, citing    as  reason  UNHCR's   lack  of  real  intent  to
  dialogue with the Vietnamese  community.  


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

  LAVAS  Expands  --  In  June, three  more  organizations   become
  sponsoring members  of LAVAS,  bringing the total  to nine.   New
  members  are: SOS  Boat People  Canada, International  Vietnamese
  Refugees   Committee  Canada, and  Union  of Vietnamese  Students
  Association of  Southern California.

  LAVAS  Meetings   --  In  early  June,  Dr.  Nguyen  Dinh  Thang,
  chairman of LAVAS,  spoke to the Vietnamese  community in  Ottawa
  and   Montreal, Canada,  about the  situation of  boat people  in
  Southeast   Asia and Hong Kong, and about LAVAS.  The majority of
  organizations  present pledged strong support for LAVAS. 

  Support for LAVAS -- On June 23,  Vietnamese Refugee  Sponsorship
  Committee of  the Capital  Area (Canada)  presented a  check   of
  Can. $5,000  to LAVAS at  a meeting in Montreal,  Canada.   A few
  days   later,  SOS Boat  People Canada  donated  Can. $20,000  to
  LAVAS.  The   International Vietnamese Refugees Committee  Canada
  also pledged  Can.  $1,000 and proposed a major campaign to raise
  fund for LAVAS.

  Walk  for Refugee  Rights --  A series  of walkathons   have been
  planned  for this  summer  across America  and  Canada to  demand
  justice  in  screening for  Vietnamese boat  people and  to raise
  money    for  LAVAS.  Simultaneous  walkathons  in San  Jose  and
  Washington DC on  June 20 raised $10,000.

  Victims  of Violence  -- Ms.  Nguyen Thi  Hoa, a  survivor   of a
  massacre by Thai   renegade soldiers in Long  Gai, has resettled 
  in Canada.  Ms. Hoa and 61 other boat  people arrived in Thailand
  in  1988. After three days of being  brutally raped and beaten  ,
  Ms. Hoa   and her companions were towed to sea and shot at.  Only
  11  survived   and   were captured  by Khmer  soldiers.   Ms. Hoa
  later  escaped back    to Vietnam.   In  1989, she   successfully
  escaped  to the  Philippines   where she   was  screened in  as a
  refugee.   Several organizations in   Canada are preparing  a law
  suit against the military perpetrators.

  Screening  -- On June  20, Dr. Nguyen Dinh  Thang conferred  with
  Congressman  Dana Rohrabacher  (R., CA) about  a number  of steps
  to  address the serious flaws  in screening.   One such step will
  be  the formation of  a congressional team to look into   UNHCR's
  role in screening. Congressman  Rohrabacher  will  join the  team
  during his trip to Southeast  Asia this coming November.

  Unaccompanied  Minor   --  In  an   unexpected  move,  the     US
  Immigration and  Naturalization Service has  granted humanitarian
  parole to  Vo Minh  Tri, an unaccompanied  minor in  Hong   Kong,
  Tri  is  now on his way to join  with his elder brother, a victim
  of  bone   cancer  struggling  for  life in  Arlington  Hospital,
  Virginia.

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

  Vu  D.  H. (no.  65061,  VRD  566) is  a  Vietnamese  boat person
  currently   detained at Hei-Ling-Chau camp  in Hong Kong.  He has
  been denied refugee  status by the  Hong Kong officials. However,
  his  life story  under the   communist  regime in  Vietnam was  a
  series  of  continuous   sufferings    from   discrimination  and
  persecution  which  only proves  Hong  Kong's    screening to  be
  blatantly unjust.

  H.  came from  an affluent  family in  North  Vietnam during  the
  French  ruling  period. His father owned  an auto repair shop  in
  Nghe  An  city    and  one  in  Laos.  In  1945,  the  Vietnamese
  communists who  were  fighting   the  French colonial  government
  confiscated H.'s  home and  turned it   into a military  station.
  H.'s family  had to move  to Quang Ninh city   and  rebuild their
  life there. In 1950,  H.'s family had to  once more  relocate  to
  Hai Phong  city since  H.'s father had  been under  assassination
  threat  by  the  communists  for  providing   shelter  to  a  few
  Japanese.

  In  1954,  Hai Phong  was  taken  over by  the  communists.  They
  launched  a  land reform policy aimed at  eliminating landowners.
  H.'s  entire   property  was seized  by  the communists  and  the
  family was labeled capitalist.  H.'s family suffered poverty  and
  had  to get by with  rice porridge   as their  main nutrition. H.
  himself  was discriminated  in school  because   of  his family's
  background even  though he  was an outstanding  student.  He  was
  prohibited from participating in  school activities. Angered   by
  the  mistreatments  imposed  on  his  family,  H.  expressed  his
  opposition  to  the government by dismounting the pictures  of Ho
  Chi  Minh (the  communist leader) from the walls of his house and
  was severely reprimanded  for the act. 

  In  early 1975, H. then  tried to  flee to South  Vietnam to join
  the   army  of the Republic  of South Vietnam.  At the border, H.
  was arrested  by the local communist  officials, and was detained
  for  three days.  A  month later,  he was taken  to a reeducation
  camp  for those considered  dangerous elements by the government.
  Worried  about his  fate,  H.  escaped   from  the  camp and  was
  recaptured  three days  later. The  communists   punished him  by
  fastening him to a post and forcing him to  eat human  excrement.
  When H. refused and  was ruthlessly beaten on  the head.  He  was
  then imprisoned for 20  months under extremely harsh  conditions.
  H. was eighteen years old then.

  After his  release,  H. worked  at a  construction site  carrying
  dirt.    He  was  later  transfered  to  work  as  an  electrical
  technician during  the  days and was trained in the  field during
  the evenings.  When the  local  authorities found out  about H.'s
  new assignment, they told the  company's  officials of H.'s 'bad'
  family  background. As a  result,   H. was forced  to go  back to
  carrying dirt even though he was a good  electrical technician.

  Repelled by the  abusive acts of the government, H.  attempted to
  escape    Vietnam  in  1978  when  the  communists  expelled  the
  Chinese. He accompanied   the family of  a Chinese friend to  the
  embarkation point  but was  uncovered   by  the security  police.
  Since there was  no evidence of his attempt   to flee, the police
  had  to  release  him.  However,  H.  was  placed  under    tight
  monitoring and was fired from his job.

  In 1981, H. started a business selling  bicycle parts. Two months
  later,   the  government confiscated  his  business property  and
  wrongly  accused   him of  selling parts  used for  tanks and  of
  helping  equip anti-  communist   groups.  H.  then had  to  find
  another  means  to   earn  his  living  by  selling    electronic
  equipments in secrecy  since he was under closed supervision   by
  the communists. His house was constantly searched  and the police
  always made him draft a report listing his belongings.

  In  1985,   the  government  promulgated  its  new  money  policy
  requiring  citizens to exchange  their old money for the  new one
  at a ratio of   10 old piasters for 1 new piaster.  However, when
  H. exchanged his   250,000 old piasters for 25,000  new piasters,
  the government gave  him  back only 2,000 new piasters. The  rest
  was confiscated  under the   pretext that it had  to be put  in a
  savings  account. Outraged,  H. criticized   the  authorities for
  laundering  his money  and  for violating  his  rights.   He  was
  immediately  arrested  and  charged  with  "wounding  the Party's
  honor".  He  suffered three  days  of ruthless  beatings  and was
  released   in a near death condition  with scars on the head that
  are still visible  to this day.

  In 1987,  H. denounced  a security  policeman  for having  stolen
  properties  of  one of his neighbors. However, the  victims later
  moved to a different   location to live fearing revenge from  the
  police. H.  himself  was  immediately   summoned  to  the  police
  station and was threatened with a jail sentence.

  In 1988,  H. persuaded the family  members of a  deceased veteran
  to    denounce  the  government for  witholding  from  the family
  benefits that   they deserved under  the law. The  family brought
  the  veteran's  body    to the  People's  court  to  voice  their
  complaint. The  act earned sympathy   from the public  and turned
  into a  demonstration that  had to  be dismissed    by a  special
  police force. After the  incident, the police placed H.   high on
  the list of suspects as troublemakers. H. later  learned from  an
  acquaintance of his uncle  that the local officials had committed
  him to a reeducation camp. 

  H. had  no choice but to find his way  out of Vietnam. He arrived
  in  Hong Kong where  his refugee status was denied.

   
                          LETTERS FROM THE CAMPS

  Following is a letter  from a  Vietnamese veteran in Sikiew Camp,
  Thailand. 


  Sikiew, 1 May 1992

  Dear sir,

  ... I was  transfered to Sikiew  Camp [Thailand] on 3/29/91   and
  was  interviewed  on 4/2/91.  The  interviewers  are mostly  Thai
  students  doing their  apprenticeship. The interpreters are  Thai
  nationals of   Vietnamese origin and are therefore not  fluent in
  Vietnamese  and  do    not  have  the  necessary  background  and
  knowledge of  Vietnam history   and current  political conditions
  in Vietnam.     When I was called  in the room for  the screening
  interview, the following instructions  on a  blackboard struck my
  eyes:  "Do  not   tell  anyone  the  questions    asked   by  the
  interviewers; Reply  the interviewers with short answers;  Do not
  talk about things that have not been  asked by the interviewers."
  The   interviewers also emphasized to me that I should only reply
  to  the  questions asked and not give details on events that have
  not  been   asked.  I  had to  follow  the instructions  and  was
  therefore not  allowed  to provide  the corroborating  details if
  they were never asked for  by the interviewers. 

  The interpreters  were  not  capable  to translate    the  common
  terminologies used  in the military  for the  ranks, the  titles,
  and the specials technical  skills. They frequently had to resort
  to   a dictionary  for  help. For  example, I  told  them that  I
  served  as an   officer in  the South Vietnam's  police force and
  the interpreter did  not understand. After  many attempts, I told
  them the Thai word  for  policeman that I suddenly remembered. As
  for my  rank as a staff sergeant  and my special skill as a rifle
  instructor, I had  to draw out my  uniform  insigna and  imitated
  the act of aiming a  rifle to help the interpreter  out. However,
  I was not certain  of what was recorded  in the interview   since
  the  interviewer  wrote  in  Thai  and  did  not  read  back  the
  statements  to me after the interview.

  I was  told by  a Vietnamese camp  detainee who had  undergone an
  interview  that he  had been  asked mostly  irrelevant questions.
  The   interviewing officer  then had  told  him to  say   prayers
  before  releasing   him. Another  interviewee recounted  that his
  interviewing officer  had   asked him  to cite the  names of  the
  good  fish  in  Rach  Gia  city  but    did  not  ask  about  the
  persecutions  he  suffered  under  the  communist    regime.  The
  similar scenario  happened to  us former  military officers   who
  did not get asked the pertinent questions  which should prove our
  merit for  refugee status. Because  we followed  the instructions
  and  answered only to  the questions asked, most of us were later
  denied  refuge status as a result...



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

    Editor in Chief: Dr. Le Quang Man
    Editorial Staff: Dr. Le Duy Can, Nguyen  Dieu Hien, Nguyen Xuan
                     Thuong

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