Carina Hoang
“History repeats itself, and that is one of the things that is wrong with history.” — famed lawyer Clarence Darrow.
Photo from http://carinahoang.com/book
I was a boat person 34 years ago. It is not long enough ago to forget, but too long ago to think that this “dark’” history is repeating… When I published “Boat People: Personal stories of the Vietnamese Exodus 1975-1996,” I thought I was recording and preserving history. I did not anticipate this history repeating.
I feel that I have the responsibility to share with you what is happening here in Western Australia — where I now live — because it is about the Vietnamese people.
Following is information extracted from the latest newspapers and other sources:
1. ‘Men fled Vietnamese police visit,’ Rebecca Trigger, The West Australian, Aug. 29, 2013
Vietnamese police officers being granted access to asylum seekers in a Northam detention center may be the reason five men decided to make a break for freedom this month.
The allegations — that the Australian government allowed officials from the oppressive regime, the men claimed they were fleeing — to have access to their names and details of where their families live came to light after five Vietnamese men escaped from the secure Yongah Hill center on Aug. 17.
Sources at the center say Vietnamese immigration police officers have been interviewing asylum seekers at Yongah Hill and telling them they have to sign agreements to be repatriated.
“We come here for safety,” one asylum seeker who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The West Australian.
“So why does the government, why does the DIAC (the Department of Immigration and Citizenship) give the personal folder to police from Vietnam and put their family into danger?”
Refugee Rights Action Network activist Victoria Martin-Iverson said she had heard of the interviews being conducted in at least three detention centers over the past few weeks.
“My initial response was this can’t be right,” Ms Martin- Iverson said. “It’s highly illegal. It’s everything the refugee convention and our international obligations prohibit.”
2. ‘Bizarre case in Northam center ,’ letter to the editor by Nam Pham, The West Australian, Aug. 30, 2013
A few weeks ago, I visited the Yongah Hill detention center and have since maintained contact with a Vietnamese asylum seeker.
On Wednesday night, he called in distress and said that the Vietnamese police, who I understand to be from a unit known as CPA18 (though I am un aware of its responsibilities), have been forcing asylum seekers to sign repatriation papers with unconventional tactics and threats.
Many detainees are in distress. Some signed, some refused and one man attempted suicide but was rescued and admitted to the hospital.
That night, a group of detainees protested at the center, refusing to return to their cells and asking for legal help from Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Tension is mounting because detainees fear not only for their safety but also for that of their loved ones still trapped in Vietnam.
The detainee with whom I have had contact expressed disappointment.
He said he believed DIAC had betrayed trust and violated privacy by disclosing personal files to Vietnamese communist officers.
These files contain details of their families, statements about detainees’ escapes as well as reasons for their claims to asylum in Australia.
Similar things had happened in the past in Australia:..
3. ‘Unrest at Villawood,’ The Age – June 18, 2005
Frustration with the government’s detention policy is the reason 13 detainees at Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre slashed their wrists today, refugee advocates say.
It is believed the self-mutilation protest was spontaneous and sparked by the earlier attempted suicide of 41-year-old Chinese woman Xiao Huang.
Some of the detainees were believed to be facing deportation, while one of the women was awaiting a determination on her asylum application.
The detainee also said that many of the group recently had been interviewed by Chinese officials.
The immigration department has admitted a group of Chinese people held in detention were questioned by Chinese government officials and held in isolation.
4. ‘Protesters rally outside Kirribilli House,’ April 8, 2007
About 50 protesters rallied outside the Prime Minister’s Sydney residence to speak against the Howard government’s policies on war, climate change, immigration and industrial relations.
The speakers included Greens Sen. Kerry Nettle and refugee activists, highlighting an ongoing hunger strike at Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Center.
The group representing the immigration detainees are due to meet at noon tomorrow outside the Villawood Detention Center to show solidarity for the hunger strikers.
Nine people remain on a hunger strike, taking only water, while up to six others refused meals and liquids as they protested against recent deportations.
The hunger strikers have asked for an end to forced deportations, an end to mandatory detention, and for the immigration department to provide information about the fate of those deported.
Please read SOS letter sent by one of these refugees below:
SOS Letter Written by the Vietnamese Boat People in Yongah Hill Detention center :
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Letter asking for help !
Dear the Vietnamese community in Australia!
First of all, we sincerely thank you for helping us in recent times. We would like to thank the associations , organizations , and individuals who did and are helping us.
We are the boat people staying in the Hill Yongah Immigration Detention center.
Ladies and gentlemen, our ancestors have a saying : “good leaves protect torn leaves”. that is the traditions of our ancestors. Therefore we write this letter to you the Vietnamese people in Australia to ask for your compassion, your help and enthusiasm.
Ladies and gentlemen, just like in the past you cannot accept the tyran, cruel and ruthless communist regime, the Hanoi government, and now we, your younger generation cannot accept the outright oppression from the communist authorities either. Like you, we have to go to find our freedom and to pursuit of happiness.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the past few days in this Hill Yongah camp, Department of Immigration has coordinated with Vietnam Immigration Department (Police CPA18), they forced some people to sign papers to verify their personal identification (equivalent to signing the repatriation paper) some people did not sign, they were pressed to do so, when failed, the police said whether they signed or not, there will be way make them return to Vietnam. And yesterday there was a person tried to hang himself after being pressed for 3 days continuously to sign the paper, after so much pressue and threats from Vietnamese security, the man resource to suicide. Why? why when we have to leave home , leave our wives, children , parents, relatives , to escape communist regime, the immigriation department made us face that terrible government, why do we have to face the memories that are not good. We beg you to raise your voice, do not let desperate people like us to “end our lives”.
Ladies and gentlemen, currently in this refugee camp the majority of Vietnamese people, displaced signs of mental stressed, especially those whose application were rejected, and those who have just been forced to sign the paper. Some confided in me that if returned they will have no chance to live, and they might have to do what the man just did (try to kill himself), they said that either way they will die, and they rather die here.
Ladies and gentlemen, also known as the ” the same people ” we do not want any of us to die unjustly, I am sure you would not want that to happen. Since we call each other ” the same people ” so I urge you to have sympathy on us refugees.
Ladies and gentlemen , as you know, it is called the Communist government , known as the exclusive rights but actually evil, and dictating.
Ladies and gentlemen, we beg you to care for your ‘same people’ who are trapped in the 4-wall cell, where we cannot express our dream, where we cannot show the love for our country.
Once again we earnestly beg you to save us, to help us. We sincerely thank you, May God bless you!
Sender!
Paul Tran
p/s : Please use media to pass this letter to the Vietnamese community in Australia , to associations , individuals and groups who are willing to help us . Sincerely thank you .
Carina Hoang
Editor of Boat People
