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c h a p t e r o n e Victims of Politics On February 7, 2001, six Vietnamese refugees left Thailand for resettlement to France. The oldest of the group had been in Thailand 17 years, the youngest 9 years. Their departure heralded the end of the tragic and turbulent quartercentury saga of Indochinese refugees, people from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia , who escaped from their homelands seeking protection and asylum.1 The six Vietnamese who left for France were the last of more than two million people who fled Indochina after 1975, traveling overland through Cambodia and by boat to countries of first asylum, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan. At least 10 percent of those who fled overland or by sea perished.2 They died from storms, thirst, and exposure; they were killed by Thai pirates, Vietnamese patrols, Khmer Rouge or other Cambodian soldiers, and Cambodian bandits. But more than 1,600,000 refugees survived. Between 1975 and 1995, 1,438,719 Indochinese refugees arrived in other countries of first asylum. This included 839,228 Vietnamese: 796,310 boat people and 42,918 overland escapees. Nearly 60,000 were unaccompanied minors. In addition, over 250,000 people, mostly ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, fled to China, where they were accepted and resettled.3 In the 1970s and 1980s, almost all Vietnamese asylum seekers were automatically given refugee status and resettled. As thousands of Vietnamese continued to flee their homeland, countries became less willing to give temporary asylum or to resettle them. In 1988 in Hong Kong and at various dates in 1989 in other countries, refugee status determination procedures were established. Adults with their attached minors were screened. Because unaccompanied minors • 3 • were considered unable to fully present their own case, a Special Committee used Special Procedures to determine their “best interests.” People who were screened out (denied refugee status) were told to repatriate to Vietnam. By 1995, no country of first asylum would accept any new arrivals. In some countries, 75–80 percent or more of the post-cutoff date arrivals initially were screened out, and screening-in rates varied widely by country. By 1996, except for a few thousand persons, all Vietnamese asylum seekers either had been resettled to third countries or repatriated to their homelands , and the camps that held them were closing. In the Philippines, nearly 1,600 people were allowed to remain indefinitely. They lived in a thriving community on Palawan Island.4 The last camp in Hong Kong ceased operation on June 1, 2000, leaving Thailand as the last to close.5 The Vietnamese refugee saga is over, but another story continues. The camps profoundly affected the children who were in them, whether they were repatriated to Vietnam or resettled in the United States or other countries. Indochinese Asylum Seekers and the Definition of a Refugee While individual countries have the sole authority to grant or deny refugee status to asylum seekers, they are influenced by UNHCR and its criteria for determining refugee status. The definition of refugee used in international law is based on the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees agreed upon by the United Nations in 1967, which is a revision of the old International Refugee Organization definition and the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Protocol states that the term refugee applies to any person “who is outside the country of his nationality . . . because he has or had well-founded fear of persecution by reason of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and is unable or, because of such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of the government of the country of his nationality.” If this definition is used to determine refugee status, many people who genuinely need refuge and assistance do not qualify, including those who flee because of deteriorating economic conditions. This suggests that “refugee” is a political term, the varying definitions and interpretations of which are of life and death importance for millions of asylum seekers.6 Indeed, over the past century, the definition and treatment of refugees have shifted as a consequence of global economic and political forces.7 What started out as a concern for displaced peoples after World War I and World War II 4 • V O I C E S F R O M T H E C A M...

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