From: "Canh Le" <@media-lab.mit.edu:canh_le@qmuucp>
Subject: Condition in refugee camps 
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Reply-To: uucp@uu.psi.com
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 21:40:05 GMT

Mail*Link( Remote             Condition in refugee camps worsened
The following letter was sent by Mr. Le Xuan Khoa, President of the Indochina
Resource Action Center (IRAC) to Dr. Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees to
protest recent inhumane measures instituted in Indonesean and Malaysian camps
with a view to force "voluntary repatriation".

This letter is posted by Canh Viet Le, Secretary/Treasurer of the IRAC Board of
Directors. It was previously posted under the title: 'Inhumane treatment in
Southeast Asian refugee camps'. I appreciate your interest and look forward to
reading your views.
Please address your e-mail comments to canh@tribe.com

Because my e-mail system is new, the auto-addressing reply feature is not
working well. Please make sure you override the default address and make sure to
type canh@tribe.com in the TO: field. I apologize for this incovenience.

<<<<<< Attached TEXT file follows >>>>>>
Indochina Resource Action Center
16281 16th St., N.W. 3rd Floor, Washington D.C. 20009 Tel:(202)667-4690
Fax:(202)667-6449

October 13, 1992

The Honorable Sadako Ogata
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Geneva 2 Depot SWITZERLAND

Dear Dr. Ogata:

For the past several months, we have been concerned about reports of
deteriorating conditions in several Southeast Asian camps, as well as
continuing injustices in the refugee screening program.

Recently, we received three reports-which have been widely reprinted in the
Vietnamese-language print media, and broadcast on Vietnamese radio and TV
programs. According to these reports, during mid-July through early August this
year, the UNHCR and local authorities in Malaysia and Indonesia have enforced a
series of extremely harsh and inhumane measures with a view to forcing
"voluntary repatriation." The reports focus on:

1. Unnecessary and draconian "belt-tightening" measures, coupled with unduly
severe restrictions on camp life in Malaysia.

2. Restrictive and unjust screening practices in Indonesia.

These inhumane measures include mainly the following:

A. Material Life (Malaysia)

1. Reduction in food rations and water supply.

2. Closing the two shops that sell fresh food (fish, meat, vegetables),
8/17/92.

3. Prohibiting the use of fire for self-cooking or re-cooking, 8/20/92.

4. Cutting the use of electricity from four to three hours per day.

For example, the weekly rice ration has been cut in half, to 1.4 kilograms per
person. Other supplementary food items such as packaged dry noodles, soy sauce,
and vegetables have been completely eliminated. Canned sardines have been cut
back even further from nine cans per month to only two. This represents less
than half the WHO recommended minimum daily requirement. One former political
prisoner remarked 'his food ration is even lower in comparison to rations
provided in the communist re-education camps." As a result, the health of the
asylum-seekers-especially women, children, and the elderly-has seriously
deteriorated.

Such contagious diseases as bacterial meningitis and hemorrhagic fever have
become epidemic; hundreds of refugees have been hospitalized as a result.

B. Cultural/Spiritual Life (Malaysia)

1. Prohibition of cultural/educational activities. For example, the ESL class
was shut down and the facility turned into a center for communist propaganda
(displays of newspapers, videos, books from the SRV). Prohibition of
traditional cultural celebrations and holidays.

2. Prohibiting all forms of income-generating activities, such as handicrafts,
food vendors, coffee shops, etc. Violators have been arrested and jailed.

3. Religious persecution-on 8/04/92, Malay police ransacked the refugee
Buddhist temple and confiscated all the files (since 1980) and personal letters
of the head monk at Sungei Besi camp. On 8/14/92, Malay police ransacked the
refugee Catholic Church and confiscated four sewing machines used by the
refugees to do alterations.

C. Screening (Indonesia)

1. Since the UNHCR took over the screening from the Indonesian authorities, the
rate of asylum-seekers screened in has dropped from 70o to 15o. According to
the same reports, two former UNHCR lawyers have left Indonesia to protest Ms.
Pervis Mitha (UNHCR Representative in Indonesia), who has instructed the UNHCR
interviewers to further reduce the rate to only 5%!

2. As a direct result of this screening policy, there have been six suicide
attempts and one self-immolation within a single 18-day period. The September
15th incident was a collective suicide of three individuals, who reportedly
slashed their bowels in the presence of the Ambassador from the Vatican, who
was visiting the camps at the time. It was also reported that when the U.S.
Department of State (through its Embassy in Jakarta) asked the UNHCR to show
the file of the self-irnmolation victim, the UNHCR refused to comply. According
to the same source, the victim's father (a former ARVN second lieutenant) had
been rejected for refugee status, by UNHCR.

We respectfully request that your office undertake an immediate and speedy
investigation of these reported incidents and release a formal communique
regarding their accuracy. We further request that appropriate actions be taken
to correct the situation, both in Malaysia and in Indonesia.

We strongly protest any draconian measures imposed by the UNHCR and/or local
government authorities. Measures such as those reported from Malaysia and
Indonesia -if true - are blatant human rights violations. We would like to take
this opportunity to draw your attention to the fact that any attempt to coerce
asylum-seekers to repatriate would not only be inhumane but also unnecessary,
for the following reasons:

o The outflow of refugees from Vietnam has virtually come to an end. Since the
beginning of this year, only seven have arrived in Hong Kong and some twenty to
other Southeast Asian countries.

o The number of returnees has increased steadily and consistently, up to the
absorption capacity of Vietnam.

o With the prospect of normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam
in the near future, a permanent and durable solution to the refugee problem is
almost in place.

In the meantime, the CPA must be supported and effectively implemented. As
indicated clearly in their statement at the conclusion of the CPA Forum last
April, the Vietnamese participants expressed their recognition of the CPA and
are willing to support this Plan provided that it be implemented in a just and
humane manner. Therefore, we are now at a point in time where cooperation is
both advisable and possible. I felt very encouraged by your comments at our
luncheon meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 20, 1992, that the cooperation of
the overseas Vietnamese is crucial for the success of the CPA, and that the
dialogue between the UNHCR and the Vietnamese-American community must be
continued.

We look forward to hearing from you soon and thank you very much for your
attention.

Most sincerely,

Le Xuan Khoa
President


Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese