IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 493
Urging that certain actions be taken with respect to Vietnamese asylum
seekers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 30, 1996
Mr. DORNAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee
on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
RESOLUTION
Urging that certain actions be taken with respect to
Vietnamese asylum seekers.
Whereas after the United Nations Comprehensive Plan of Ac-
tion program in Asia for Vietnamese refugees ended on
June 30, 1996, there are no fewer than 20,000 Vietnam-
ese asylum seekers who remain in the refugee camps in
Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand,
half of whom are from South Vietnam, and some of these
apparently qualify for resettlement to the United States
under United States laws relating to immigration and
refugees;
Whereas on July 25, 1996, an interim report to the Congress
by the General Accounting Office relating to its investiga-
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tion of the United Nations Comprehensive Plan of Action
program describes inconsistencies in the implementation
of the United Nations program throughout Southeast
Asia and within individual countries, that excluded Viet-
namese asylum seekers who would otherwise be classified
as refugees under international and United States law,
including section 599D(b)(2)(C) of the Foreign Oper-
ations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appro-
priations Act, 1990 (referred to as the ‘‘Lautenberg
Criteria’’);
Whereas the General Accounting Office has found that Viet-
namese asylum seekers who remain in the refugee camps
and face forced repatriation to Vietnam include former
special forces and other soldiers employed by the United
States Government during the Vietnam War, Amerasian
children, spouses and children of Vietnamese-American
citizens and permanent resident aliens, members of the
clergy, prodemocracy dissidents, and former political pris-
oners;
Whereas there has been an increase in violence and intimida-
tion by refugee camp officials and paramilitary forces in
Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, including numer-
ous eyewitness reports of United Nations officials being
present but not intervening during incidents of brutality
against men, women, and children in the camps;
Whereas, in addition, the United Nations has provided funds
for forced repatriation operations, such as the June 29,
1996, incident in Sikiew Camp in Thailand which re-
sulted in 2 deaths and numerous injuries;
Whereas information from Vietnam through repatriated asy-
lum seekers and official Vietnamese Communist media
indicates that some repatriated refugees, whether they re-
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turned to Vietnam voluntarily or by force, have been sub-
jected to imprisonment or harassment by Communist
officials because of their religious or political beliefs;
Whereas the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Re-
turnees program, initiated by the Department of State in
1995, has excluded a substantial number of Vietnamese
asylum seekers who have a relationship with the United
States;
Whereas in Vietnam, repatriated refugees lack information on
registration for the Resettlement Opportunities for Viet-
namese Returnees program, and those who registered for
the program prior to repatriation have not been inter-
viewed by United States officials for resettlement in the
United States; and
Whereas some repatriated Vietnamese asylum seekers who
are applicants for the Resettlement Opportunities for Vi-
etnamese Returnees program have been subjected to
intimidation by Vietnamese Communist officials, and
United States officials have told asylum seekers that the
program cannot protect them from the Vietnamese Com-
munist government: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1)(A) the United States should demand that
forced repatriation and the inhumane treatment of
Vietnamese asylum seekers should cease and that
the United Nations should not be involved in or pro-
vide funds for such activities; and
(B) Vietnamese asylum seekers who, on appeal
to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu-
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gees, have been designated as refugees should be
protected from repatriation and interviewed imme-
diately by the United States for resettlement in the
United States;
(2) Vietnamese asylum seekers in the refugee
camps in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia,
and Thailand, who have a relationship with the
United States, such as Amerasians and people who
apparently qualify as refugees under the Lautenberg
Criteria, including former military and political em-
ployees of the United States Government, members
of the clergy, and spouses and children of United
States citizens and permanent resident aliens, should
be given access to United States immigration offi-
cials for resettlement interviews;
(3) those Vietnamese asylum seekers who are
accepted for resettlement in the United States
should be admitted under the fiscal year 1997 immi-
gration ceiling for Vietnamese nationals; and
(4)(A) those Vietnamese asylum seekers pre-
viously repatriated to Vietnam who have volunteered
for the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese
Returnees program of the Department of State
should be immediately interviewed for resettlement
in the United States under the Lautenberg Criteria;