From: tnguyen@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Thang Nguyen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: [Refugees] Please help sponsor a VNese lawyer
Date: 5 Oct 92 22:08:04 GMT
Reply-To: tnguyen@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Thang Nguyen)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

Dear netters:

A female Vietnamese lawyer from Toronto has volunteered to go on a
2-months mission with LAVAS in Southeast Asia, starting November.
I am asking you all to help sponsor her as you did for Lawyer
Nguyen Quoc La^n earlier this year.

Eight months ago, if you remember, Nguyen Quoc Lan spent one month
(March) in Palawan, the Philippines, working for LAVAS. Many
members on SCV contributed to the financing of his mission. He has
done a lot in helping the boat people there, those who have been
unfairly denied refugee status. Upon return to the US, he reported
to SCV his activities and achievements during that month. (I repost
his report herewith). 

But your sponsorship has done more than just that. Before his
mission, La^n, although active, was not as efficient and effective
as he is now because of lack of insight into the myriad of
technical issues germane to screening. Upon return, he had become
an expert, and an enthusiastic one. Since then, La^n and a number
of volunteers have helped form a LAVAS office in Little Saigon,
California, which became fully operational last week. This office
is staffed by a good number of very dedicated and talented young
Vietnamese professionals and college students, some of whom are
also on SCV. The formation of this California office is a great
boost for LAVAS, both morally and in terms of real work. Your
contribution has indeed gone a long way. It has initiated a
sustained effort in Southern California to help our boat people. 

I expect that this successful experience will be replicated this
time. The lawyer will need around 2,000 US dollars for her mission
(including rent, food, ground transportation, communication and
some pocket money). Unlike La^n, she will have to travel a lot in
this mission. That's why the financial need is larger this time. A
Vietnamese organization in Toronto has offered to cover her plane
tickets.

Due to a special reason, I am not in the position to divulge her
name at this moment, but will at a later time. Of course, she will
report back to SCV on what she will have done upon return. Like
La^n's, her work will also consist of helping Vietnamese boat
people appeal negative decisions on their refugee claims. 

Please help. Your contribution can make a difference for many of
our people in the camps. May I ask some one to volunteer to
coordinate this fundraising effort?

Contributions are tax-exempt and can be sent to Boat People
S.O.S./LAVAS (memo: mission) at: 
     Boat People S.O.S.
     P.O. Box 2652
     Merrifield, VA 22116 USA 

Beside financial contributions for that lawyer, we are also looking
for donations in terms of office equipment to furnish the LAVAS
office in Little Saigon. If you have old but functioning XTs, 286s,
fax machines, modems, printers that you no longer want, you can
donate. All donations will be tax-exempt. Please also see if your
company has a policy of donating new equipment to non-profit
organizations. Some computer manufacturers do. Just let me know or
Christina Tran know (she serves as the secretary at the LAVAS
office in Orange County). We will try to arrange for the pick-up.

Christina's email address: ctran.laxlb@xerox.com
 

Cordially,
Thang

REPORT TO VIETNET RE TRIP TO PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES
By Lan Quoc Nguyen

Dear VietNetters,

   I just came back from the Philippines after spending one month
working with the LAVAS team in Palawan.  Thank you for sponsoring
my trip.  I was proud to brag to the people over there that my
trip was sponsored by the folks at VietNet and the Union of
Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California.  Of
course, that honor came with the obligation to fulfill the expec-
tation of the people who skipped their lunch to send me there.
   The main purposes of my mission were to assist the LAVAS team
in Palawan and to study the operations there to prepare for the
next LAVAS teams to other camps.
   When I arrived, the LAVAS team in Palawan consisted of an
attorney, Grizelda ("Gerthie") Mayo-Anda, a lead counsel, former
law professor Agustin Rocamora, and five volunteer legal assis-
tants.  Gerthie is a civil rights attorney in the Philippines. 
Michael Tu Nguyen was an engineer turned businessman from South-
ern California; Thuy Pham was a liberal art graduate from Virgin-
ia; Khoi Nguyen was a History graduate student from Cornell
University; Nam Nguyen was an MBA student from San Jose State
University, and Caitlin James was political science/journalism
major from New York.  She was traveling and teaching English to
Vietnamese refugees in Japan prior to coming to the Philippines
where she eventually joined the LAVAS team. 
   The LAVAS team members live, work, and play like a family. 
They live in the two houses rented by LAVAS, eat together every-
day, and often relax and go out together.  They seem to know
everything about one another, including who snores loudest, takes
quickest bath, has biggest mouth, or is most picky about food. 
Such a homey environment enables them to handle the pressure,
endure the hardship, and preserve sanity very well.
   When I arrived, the team was swarmed with the heavy case load
from the last few weeks when they decided to take on all cases. 
Normally, the team accepted only about ten to fifteen cases per
week.  Within those last two weeks, they took on almost 50 cases. 
They paid dearly for those "big bites," but they never compro-
mised the professionalism and quality in their works.
   A typical daily work schedule was from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00
p.m., except, of course, time for lunch and dinner during which
the team liked to make fun of almost every one, including one
another.  Because of the unusually heavy caseload when I was
there, the team very often worked late into the night, i.e., mid-
night, and also on the weekend.  The team later restricted their
work on the weekend per instructions from headquarters in Virgin-
ia that they had to take a break and relax.
   The work on a typical case is divided into different stages
and handled by different members.  The legal assistants conduct
preliminary interviews to get a general background history of the
clients, interview again to obtain detailed facts for the case,
and draft the appeals including statement of facts, points of
errors, and argumentation.  The cases are then handed to the
supervising attorney for final edit and revision.  The whole
process may take up to three or four weeks to complete.  On any
day, the team members must juggle from one case to another. 
After some time, each team member became a "specialist" in a
particular area, e.g., interviewing, writing, or editing, and he
or she would handle more caseload at his or her area of special-
ty.
   Along with the team, several volunteers from the Vietnamese
Youth Organization in the camp also helped in some tasks such as
translating documents from Vietnamese to English, reading back
the appeals to the boat people, contacting people in the camp, or
other tasks as needed by the team.  These volunteers (all boat
people themselves) were also source of invaluable information
from inside the camp.  The assistance of these volunteers not
only relieved the team of some work load, but also showed appre-
ciation by the people in the camp.
   When I joined the team, we were able to split the team into
two groups, and Gerthie and I each headed one group.  As attor-
neys, we were responsible for the final product of the team's
works.  With two groups working side by side, we were not only
able to increase the speed, but also to exchange ideas, vary the
styles, and have more discussion between team members and attor-
neys.
   During my trip, Gerthie and I met with the head of UNHCR in
the camp several times.  At these meetings brought up and suc-
cessfully resolved several issues such as quick access to boat
people's prior interview files maintained by the UNHCR, access to
boat people's medical records maintained by the International
Organization of Immigration (IOM), open channel of communication
or forum for representatives from relevant agencies to discuss
cases of significant impact or common problems encountered in
preparing the appeals.  We also submitted several suggestions for
changes or exchanged ideas regarding the operation of UNHCR and
coordination between that agency and LAVAS in assisting boat
people.  The success of these efforts made the work of LAVAS much
easier and the representation of boat people more effective.
   During a meeting with General Lojico, the Commanding General
of the Western Command of the Philippines, I had the opportunity
to present a petition on behalf of the Armed Forces' Veterans
Association in Palawan which called for the reconsideration of
the decisions denying their refugees status.  The Association's
members consisted of 161 former military personnel of the RVN
Government who were denied of refugee status despite the fact
that many of them were high ranking military officers, had
extensive anti-communist records, and were subjected to lengthy
incarceration in re-education camps.  They were mindful that they
would face serious consequences if they were returned to Vietnam. 
The petition also called for a general hunger strike if their
grievances were not addressed by the appropriate authorities. 
Upon receipt of the petition, the General immediately sent
representatives to discuss the petition with the Veterans Associ-
ation and subsequently held a high level meeting with all rele-
vant agencies to address the requests.  This prompt response
released some of the pressure that was building up within the
Veterans Association and the camp.
   Near the end of my trip, the LAVAS team also joined hands with
the attorneys from the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) to conduct a
massive appeal on behalf of hundreds of boat people who were
wrongfully denied their refugee status which resulted in the
separation of their immediate relatives.  The appeal was based on
a Filipino law provision, Section VII of the Refugee Status
Determination Guidelines, which stated that if an immediate
relative was granted the refugee status, all other immediate
family members must also be granted the same status.  This
provision was drafted according to the Comprehensive Plan of
Action (CPA) and relevant international laws in accordance with
the principle of family unity in refugee laws.  The Filipino
Immigration Bureau often failed to apply this provision in the
determination of refugee status, and as a result, that ignorance
caused the separation of at least 300 families in the camp.
   During the month I was there, I ran across cases where the
husband and wife were separated because of the screening deci-
sions; the family of five including uncles and aunts were granted
refugee status while the four year old girl was rejected; two
siblings who grew up in the same family and experienced the same
incidents of persecution but the older sister was granted refugee
status and the minor younger brother was denied.  As the result
of these inconsistent decisions, many family members were sepa-
rated, some were allowed to resettle and others were left behind,
even the minors who had no adult relatives to look after them.
   The LAVAS team provided an extremely needed service to the
people in the camp.  Before LAVAS came to Palawan, people had to
prepare their own appeals.  They did not get any help from any
agency, outside or inside the camp.  They did not have access to
even the most basic laws upon which their appeals were largely
based.  Their works were furthered hampered by some authorities'
efforts to withhold information from them or discourage them from
getting help for their appeals so that they would have to return
to Vietnam, voluntarily or involuntarily.
   With the coming of LAVAS, the people in the camp now had
someone who was willing to listen to them and present their
grievances to relevant authorities.  The LAVAS team also coordi-
nated with other organizations to advocate for the boat people's
rights.  Most important of all, the presence of LAVAS provided
much needed peace of mind to the people because they knew that
their fellow Vietnamese outside the camp were concerned and
fighting for their causes.
   When I left Palawan, the LAVAS team's morale was very high. 
However, I could feel the concern from the expressions on their
faces.  The team needed at least another lawyer.  That was the
last thing they told me when we bid farewell at the airport. 
LAVAS is now in the process of sending another experienced lawyer
to Palawan, but the decision was made after much deliberation by
the Executive Board and some cost cutting measures were deemed
acceptable.  To simply state the issue, LAVAS does not have the
money allocated for that additional attorney.  We need at least
$8,000 per year to send one lawyer to Palawan, a "cheap price
tag" by and standard.
   They also need better computer equipment for word processing. 
The team had only one computer which was an XT system with CGA
monitor.  The rest were inexpensive Zenith laptops many of which
were not even working properly.  When I was there, the team was
always worried about the doomsday scenario: if only the printer
or the right computer broke down, the whole LAVAS operations
would be halted.
   My most difficult feeling when I left Palawan was my worry
about the effect of the heat upon the team's operations.  When I
was there, the temperature at 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning was
already over 105~ or 110~F and we had to wear short or hat most
of the time or took the bath several times a day.  However, I was
told that the worst was yet to come and the coming months were to
be the hottest season in the Philippines.  I could notice the
effect of the heat upon the team's productivity and the computer
equipment during that month.
   Of course, we were talking about installing an air-condition-
er, at least in the working area to protect the computer equip-
ment.  The addition required money and it must be approved by the
home office.  The LAVAS Executive Committee has been working on
that request.  Facing that difficulty, my only wish was I would
be able to tell the crew "Tell us what you need and we would get
it for you."  Of course, under budget constraint I could not say
that, neither could Arif Ali, the treasurer from the LAVAS
Executive Board who came to visit and work with the team near the
end of my trip there.
   Now that I am sitting at home in an air-conditioned room and
reflecting on my trip to Palawan, I can't help but thinking that
the boat people's suffering cannot get any worse.  Yet, we should
be mindful that Palawan is only one of numerous refugee camps
throughout Southeast Asia and it is by far the best camp in the
region in terms of living and working conditions.
   The conditions at other camps are far more difficult and
complex and LAVAS is facing a tantamount mission.  There is so
much to be done and only so much we can do.  Yet, with the
support of the Vietnamese Community, we can overcome any diffi-
culty.  We should assess our efforts not in terms of how many out
of the hundreds of thousands of boat people we can help, but the
impact upon each particular refugee whose life is in serious
jeopardy.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese