Miserable and terrified refugees: is it just a political manoeuvre?

Press, 16 February 1979, Page 13

Miserable and terrified refugees: is it just a political manoeuvre?

By

BRUCE EADS,

There is no longer any doubt that the mass exodus of refugees from Vietnam is now a highly organised and profitable racket sanctioned and encouraged by senior members of the Hanoi Government. Investigations in Hong Kong and other Asian countries playing reluctant host to the refugees reveal the mechanics of a traffic in which the Vietnamese authorities, Chinese entrepreneurs, and would-be refugees are co-operating to serve their overlapping interests. These are: 1. To flush out southern Vietnam’s large and incorrigibly bourgeois ethnic Chinese community; 2. To amass substantial amounts of gold and foreign currency in the process; 3. To guarantee that the journey out of Vietnam is swift, without risk, and in relative comfort. The system was evolved last summer after Hanoi moved to absorb what re-

mained of the south's Chi-nese-dominated private sector. The Chinese had already shown themselves unenthusiastic and indigestible candidates for socialism, and Vietnam's split with China turned them into potential fifth columnists.

The Hanoi Government set up a special department to co-ordinate the traffic under the control of the Politburo member, Nguyen Van Linh, and accountable directly to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. Official involvement was to be kept to the essential minimum and the slogan offered was “You’re Chinese, so save the Chinese.” Through tightly-knit webs of family and business contacts in Asia and the United States they have done just that. Official sources in Hong Kong say that all five tramp freighters which have carried refugees into Asian ports since last September were chartered for

this specific purpose. Syndicates have been set up to co-ordinate preparations on the Outside. In the case of the first three vessels — the Southern Cross, the Hai Hong, and the Huey Fong — the central figures were ethnic Chinese who left Vietnam legally shortly after the Communist victory in 1975.

They communicated with contacts inside Vietnam through cable and telex — both were monitored by the authorities — and in some cases used a code suggested by Vietnamese officials. Wealthy businessmen in Vietnam, unable to export their wealth, have eagerly financed would-be refugees in return for credits paid into overseas bank accounts by relatives and friends who have already, left. Vietnam.

Chinese middlemen working for the Government made it known that exit was possible without .the dangers of capture, drowning, or pirates that face those who leave by, small boats.

The basic charge for an adult wishing to leave is 12 taels of gold (one tael weighs 1.33 ounces) val-* ued at about $3500. Juveniles travel half price. Ethnic Vietnamese must pay a 50 per cent surcharge. The money is paid to the middleman, who in turn pays it W Government officials. Refugees

are allowed to take only hand luggage, and the remainder of their assets are forfeited to the Government. In return they are guaranteed unimpeded passage to the coast of the Mekong Delta, from where they are ferried by small boat to the waiting freighter. (Those who flee under their own steam are jailed if caught, and in some cases have been fired on by naval gunboats.)

Before the organiser’s agent joins the freighter a Government official pays him the balance of gold remaining when the Government tax has been levied: of the adult fare the Government takes 10 taels, the agent two. The system explains the contents of four oil-sodden sacks discovered on Feb ruary 7 aboard the Huey Fong which carried 3400 refugees into Hong Kong on Christmas Eve: gold leaf valued at SIM. It also explains why the police knew exactly the amount they were searching for, and continued to look despite two previously fruitless attempts to unearth it. Earlier, they had found 600 taels on disembarking refugees. A quick calculation told them that 3500 taels were outstanding, and this is what they found inside a disused fuel tank beneath the plates of the Huey Fong’s engine room. The usual system is for

the organiser’s agent and his gold to be taken off the ship on the high seas — the Southern Cross, Hai Hong, Tung An, and the latest arrival at Hong Kong, the Sky Luck, carried no gold. With the Huey Fong something clearly went wrong. But the pantomine staged by the captain, crew, and 3000 refugees aboard the Sky Luck illustrates the increasing difficulties of convincing anyone that the refugees were

plucked from sinking boats on the high seas. The ship took 27 days to sail from Singapore to Hong Kong, a journey normally taking five days.' The belief in Hong Kong is that the lost days can be accounted for in time spent standing off the Vietnamese coast, unloading about 600 refugees on the Philippine island of Palawan, and another 224 on to a small Hong Kong trawler which landed them at Hong Kong on February 5.

That the Ky Lu which pulled into Palawan be--1 came the Sky Luck that slipped into Hong Kong is doubted by no one. But the intimate knowledge of the various deceptions has so far proved of no great help to those governments

“Observer,” London

seeking to deal with unwanted arrivals. The Sky Luck was obliged to stand off Hong Kong's Lamma Island, with threats that .since it cannot be proved that Hong Kong was the “first port of call” those on board would not be allowed to land. The same threat was issued to those aboard the Huey Fong, but 3400 refugees disembarked eventually. Undoubtedly those on the Sky Luck will follow once con-

gestion caused by the 10,360 already in Hong Kong is eased. Hong Kong is regarded as a soft touch, and there is considerable irony in the fact that each of the 9000 or so sheets of gold leaf discovered last week is about the size of a bus ticket and stamped with the words "Saigon —

Hong Kong.” The question being asked is how to stop the influx, which this year has averaged 60 a day. There seems no great potential for attacking the problem at source, since the exodus appears to serve the interests of everyone involved at the Vietnamese end.

The ships themselves and their cargoes are virtually worthless, and there

is no incentive for owners or financiers to leave the safety of diplomaticallyisolated Taiwan to claim them which leaves the masters, crews, and, in two cases, at least, the organisers’ agent. Their vulnerability explains the charade staged by the master of the Sky Luck, discovered on his bridge tied up and guarded by seven refugees armed with knives. He was none-the-less able to chart a perfect course and dock at Hong Kong’s Western Anchorage.

The circumstances of the Sky Luck’s arrival are still being investigated, but the 52-year-old Taiwanese master of the Huey Fong has already been charged with carrying unscheduled passengers, an offence carrying four years imprisonment. Official sources say he is likely to face more serious charges, and it is believed that he and several others will be charged with conspiracy, which carries a seven-year sentence.

Hong Kong officials hope that under the threat of certain arrest and imprisonment, masters and crews will be discouraged from manning refugee ships. If this ploy fails it is difficult to see what other avenues are open to the governments of the region. — O.F.N.S. Copyright.