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c h a p t e r f o u r The Unbearable Life The children of the camps clearly were victimized in numerous ways, but they were anything but passive. Though intimidated by o‹cials, terrorized by gangs, manipulated by adult leaders, and ripped off by food contractors, the children found ways to resist and to fight back, sometimes openly, often in hidden ways. The resisters at High Island, Hong Kong engaged in public protest, as did many children in other camps. But even more widespread was the refusal of children to repatriate when they were asked to do so. “They’ll have to carry me out of this camp,” was a phrase we heard over and over. A sixteen-year-old youth in Palawan described how his friends encouraged each other to resist. “Not one of my friends has been willing to go back. Not one has chosen voluntary repatriation. My friends tell me, ‘Think of the future, not the past. Even if you are rejected, don’t be discouraged. Don’t worry. Devote your time to study. Maybe some day something will change.’” Hung: “I Dream of Doing Good for the Human Race” We met Hung in 1993 in Whitehead Detention Center, Hong Kong, where he was working in the o‹ce of International Social Service (ISS), an organization that provided educational and recreational services for children in the camp. Hung was eighteen years old, tough, articulate, and politically savvy. He was the kind of youth who UNHCR and Hong Kong o‹cials considered especially troublesome—screened out, aged out (over sixteen), refusing to repatriate , and claiming that he had lost contact with his parents and did not know where they lived. O‹cials told us they did not believe him. Although he presented himself as a human rights activist and a person who wanted to help others, • 60 • o‹cials dismissed this as puffery, and they said his story sounded too well rehearsed to be true. They said that he had falsified the location of his parents so that they could not be located. By contrast, lawyer and human rights activist Pam Baker of Refugee Concern Hong Kong considered Hung to be truly concerned about human rights, a genuine victim of persecution, and an example of a youth who should not have spent four years in a detention camp. Many children tried to maintain a sense of hope in the future, even when they had no reason to believe they would succeed. Hung held onto the notion of education as a way to escape the camp. Like many youngsters, he persisted in the belief that if he did well as a student and could show that he would be a productive citizen, he might be selected for resettlement. Hung had been told that educational success had no bearing on his refugee status, but he refused to relinquish this last shred of hope. Education, along with persecution, is prominent in his story. I was born in Quang Ninh Province, in north Vietnam, in 1975. My father, an electrical engineer, struggled to aid workers. He was a leader of a demonstration at a coal mine at Halong in 1989. My mother was a bookseller assistant. So I read books and I knew about the outside world, ideas, and the ways of capitalism. I knew that it differed from Vietnam’s communist system. I read about that when I was twelve or thirteen years old. In 1989, my father was arrested. About a month later, my mother was also arrested because her husband had gone against the government. My father saw that workers suffered a lot and were treated unfairly. Some people took things for themselves . When they were ill, they had no medicine or not enough. They were forced to work overtime, ten to twelve hours instead of the usual eight. A car collapsed and turned over, and lots of workers were killed. Their families were given no compensation for that. So my father led a demonstration. I didn’t see the demonstration because I was in school but my uncle told me about it. He also worked for the coal mine company. The workers gathered with banners and slogans. “Buy Uniforms.” “Compensation for Workers.” “No More Overtime.” My uncle also demonstrated against unfair practices and was arrested. After that, I lost contact with my parents. I had dreamed of doing something worthwhile, of becoming a medical doctor , but because of the activities of my parents, I...

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