A question for Hanoi about two nuns

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33773, 20 February 1975, Page 14

A question for Hanoi about two nuns

No-one doubts that in the confusion of war people go missing. But European women, alive or dead, and wearing the habit of nuns, cannot be so very common in Phuoc Long Province in South Vietnam. Communications among the Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese allies are rapid enough when it suits their purposes: even if one accepts that news of the fate of civilians, especially those who are members of a despised religion, will travel slowly, it is time the Communists confessed to what has happened, in a province they proudly claim to control, to two New Zealand women and about 100 orphans who were last seen alive more than five weeks ago. From other evidence, it appears most likely either that the nuns and the children have fled into the remote border region between South Vietnam and Cambodia, or that they are being resettled by the new masters of Phuoc Long The new Government there has been attempting to stem the flow of refugees from the province to prove how warmly the population has welcomed “ liberation ”.

New Zealand so far has been carefully correct Its requests for information have been firm, but they have been directed through the joint military commission in Saigon. The myth has been maintained that the Provisional Revolutionary Government calls the tune in those parts of South Vietnam not controlled from Saison. The New Zea'and Government lost little time after it took office in 1972 in recognising the Government of North Vietnam. Diplomatic niceties aside, that recognition should be used now vigorously to pursue inquiries in Hanoi. Most of the fighting in South Vietnam continues to he conducted and directed by North Vietnam. New Zealand has offered aid and recognition: at the very least, in exchange, it might ask for information about the fate of two worthy and harmless New Zealand