Refugees Sur Place
It is well known that Vietnam has devoted considerable attention to the activities of asylum seekers within Hong Kong's detention centers. Whether through voluntary or forced repatriation, every returnee must face one or multiple sessions of debriefing by Vietnamese authorities upon arrival in the country. During such interrogations, officials have shown particular interest in asylum seekers who have worked with foreigners or foreign voluntary agencies, acted in some leadership capacity within the camp communities, or engaged in anti-communist or other political activities. Such interest indicates a certain degree of danger for those asylum seekers who have been involved in these types of activities.
Hong Kong has evaluated Vietnamese asylum claims pursuant to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Under both treaties, a refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is unwilling or unable to return to his or her own country.65 Although "screened out" by Hong Kong's refugee determination procedure, many individuals have a well-founded fear of persecution in Vietnam for reasons arising since their departure from their country. According to the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, such people may be considered refugees sur place. A refugee sur place is an individual who, due to the person's own actions, or as a result of circumstances which have developed in the country of origin during the person's absence, cannot safely return to that country.66
Under such criteria, many people in Hong Kong's detention centers should not be returned to Vietnam. At particular risk is a group of people who are known to have been interviewed by the Hong Kong Security Branch or the Defense Liaison Office of the United States Consulate. Interested in obtaining intelligence regarding Vietnamese command structure, communications, internal security, coastal defenses and military transportation, members of the Hong Kong Security Branch systematically interviewed boat people detained in its camps. Interviews were also undertaken by representatives of the United States Defense Liaison Office who sought information on missing American servicemen and prison conditions in Vietnam. Given their military or security backgrounds, these men were considered to be sources of potentially useful information. Meetings with U.S. and/or Hong Kong officials were long, and interviews were often conducted over two or three days. In some cases, individuals were interviewed up to nine times. Security representatives of both governments sought out these individuals both by public address announcements and by individual distinction, calling out their names and camp numbers. As a result, these meetings and the individuals involved are well-known throughout the camps and, by extension, in Vietnam.
C Before coming to Hong Kong, Pham Huu Trong was a major in the Vietnamese Army's Special Forces. Among other duties, Pham infiltrated enemy posts and escorted downed U.S. airmen to Hanoi. Due to these activities and to his knowledge of Chinese military movements, Mr. Pham was interviewed by Hong Kong and U.S. security officials. U.S. representatives have sought meetings with him on over four occasions and have as recently as August 1996 returned for more information. Mr. Pham is currently being held in Victoria Prison.
C Arriving in Hong Kong in 1989, Phung Xuan Thanh was a four-star captain in charge of security information in Hai Phong Headquarters. Interviewed by both Hong Kong and U.S. security officials, Phung was sought out by U.S. officlals again in 1944 for more information about missing U.S. servicemen.
C
Also a four-star captain, Vu Song Thao was formally deputy chief of Hong Bang's Public Security Bureau in Hai Phong. Mr. Vu's troubles with Vietnamese authorities began in 1985, when he opposed the demolition of an ethnic Chinese temple in his community and began to speak out against the corrupt practices of cadres. Fearing arrest over a petition submitted to Do Muoi, former chairman of the Council of Ministers and current security general of the Communist Party, Vu fled to Hong Kong in 1989. After arriving in the territory, officials from Hong Kong's Security Branch questioned Vu regarding various aspects of his work as a police chief.
C Chu Minh Tien was a national defense worker and deputy manager of army vehicles carrying sensitive communications equipment who fled to Hong Kong in 1989. After providing secret information of the command of military telecommunications to Hong Kong Security Branch officials, Chu's sister in Hanoi was visited by Vietnamese army security and police. Convinced that Vietnamese authorities are aware these interviews, Chu's sister has urged him not to return. Chu Minh Tien is currently being rescreened.
Reports indicate that Vietnamese authorities are aware that such intervews took place and are familiar with the individuals who were involved in these meetings. In January 1994, one interviewee received the following warning from his father in Vietnam.
The authorities are now showing their continuing interest in your case and your friends' constantly, especially they knew what documents you provided to the Hong Kong Security Branch. They have investigated this matter from Mr. Chu who returned to Vietnam under volrep [voluntary repatriation] and Mr. Chu stated to them everything...If you have done that matter, it would be very dangerous and if so, you shouldn't return. Recently, the Public Security Officers and Authorities came to search our house and letters and watched us strictly. We could not do anything and all our family members are placed under surveillance and restriction and are not allowed to go anywhere.67
Providing foreign security representatives with sensitive information almost certainly brands these individuals as traitors in Vietnam and leaves them vulnerable to prosecution under the country's criminal code, particularly its national security articles.68 Although international law prohibits the refoulement of those who would be in danger if returned, these men and their families remain on the list to be forcibly repatriation to Vietnam.
Refugees
There are approximately 1,282 Vietnamese who have been determined to be refugees and are entitled to resettlement in third countries. Up to 800 of these refugees reside at Pillar Point Refugee Camp and roughly 500 others live in local communities around Sham Shui Po and Yuen Long in Hong Kong's New Territories. Most of these refugees have found jobs in small factories, local restaurants or at construction sites such as Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong's new airport project. The UNHCR has found it increasingly difficult to resettle these people in third countires. Many of them have criminal records or drug problems that make them unattractive candidates to third countries with stringent immigration policies. Sources close to this population estimate that in spite of efforts by the UNHCR and the Hong Kong government, it is likely that over 1,000 of these refugees will still be in Hong Kong as
of the handover date.69 As the Basic Law denies permanent residency rights to Vietnamese refugees in the future Special Administrative Region, this group will be left with only the protection afforded under the UNHCR's mandate.
65 United Nations, 1951 Refugee Convention, art. 1, para. 2 and 1967 Protocol, art. 1.
66 Office of the UNHCR, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, para. 94 and 95 (Geneva: United Nations, 1988).
67 Letter from interviewee's father in Vietnam, Lam Hai, January 24, 1994, as cited in Submission to the UNHCR.
68 Asia Watch, "Refugees at Risk."
69 Human Rights Watch/Asia interview with Pillar Point representative, Hong Kong, June 21, 1996.