VN news (May 5-6)

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

May 06: HK deports 66 Vietnamese boatpeople, others get last-minute reprieve 
May 06: Vietnamese victim of racist attack dies 
May 06: Denunciation boxes will help fight drugs says Vietnam press report
May 05: Vietnamese Newspaper Highlights - May 05, 1997 
May 05: HongKong may be urged to keep Vietnamese boat people 


HK deports 66 Vietnamese boatpeople, others get last-minute
reprieve 

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong forced home 66 Vietnamese boatpeople
Tuesday but four other asylum-seekers earned a last-minute reprieve, a
government spokesman said.

The group, comprising 47 men, 10 women, and nine children, returned by
air to Hanoi on the 101st flight under the so-called Orderly
Repatriation Programme.

The group brought to 10,202 the total number of boatpeople forced home
under the scheme, which was launched with Hanoi's approval in November
1991.

Meanwhile, four Vietnamese asylum seekers who were supposed to be on
the list for Tuesday's repatriation won a last-minute reprieve when
judge Frank Stock ordered them removed from the flight pending court
hearings on their bid for refugee status.

The four -- identified as Pham Thi-hop, 39, her son Pham Dinh-thanh,
17, as well as Trong Dien, 27, and Phan Dinh Hoanh, 30 -- reportedly
had been punished by Hanoi because their parents had ties with the
former South Vietnamese army.

There are 1,300 Vietnamese with refugee status in Hong Kong who are
awaiting resettlement in third countries.

Around 2,700 others are awaiting return home by the end of June, but
some 2,000 of these are likely to be stranded in Hong Kong after the
territory returns to Chinese rule on July 1, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said last week.

Hong Kong has stepped up forced repatriation of Vietnamese boatpeople
in a move to clear the asylum-seekers from the territory before it
returns to Chinese rule.

At the height of the boatpeople crisis in the early 1990s there were
more than 60,000 people in Hong Kong camps.

China has told Hong Kong to clear the detention camps before the
handover.
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Vietnamese victim of racist attack dies 

FRANKFURT-ON-ODER, Germany (AFP) - A 42-year-old Vietnamese who was
the victim of a racist attack in January at Fredersdorf in eastern
Germany has died of his injuries, prosecutors said here Monday.

The man, whose name was not given, was punched in the face and thrown
to the ground. His alleged attacker, a 30-year-old German, will be
prosecuted for murder.

The Vietnamese died of heart failure on April 30, and an autopsy
concluded it was a result of the attack.
                 ___________________________________


Denunciation boxes will help fight drugs says Vietnam press
report

Hanoi (dpa) - Denunciation boxes are being called for in Vietnam,
alloqing people to inform on suspects in order to help stem the rising
tide of illicit drug use in the communist country.

``The Minstry of Interior (should) extend its system of anonymous post
boxes at every ward, school and police station in the country for
citizens to inform the police of illegal drug activity,'' a report in
the Hanoi Moi newspaper said.

The report also called for a telephone hotline to be set up by the
ministry.

Drugs have emerged as a major problem in Vietnam in the last five
years, with many adolescents smoking high-grade heroin, or chasing the
dragon, in tea stalls outside schools. The heroin can be bought for as
little as four dollars for a hit.

Vietnam's biggest dugs trial is now underway and has highlighted the
level of corruption spawned by the drug trade.

MInistry of Interior officials, police and border guards involved in
an overland drug trafficking ring are in the dock, with up to ten
death sentences expected to be handed down early next week.

Ironically, ``denunciation boxes'' were widely used by the Ministry of
Interior during the 1980s as a means of civil control, urging citizens
to report cases of ``non socialist behaviour'', usually a euphamism
for privately generated wealth.

                 ___________________________________


Vietnamese Newspaper Highlights - May 05, 1997

HANOI (VNA) - Highlights of Vietnam's daily newspapers today:

Nhan Dan:

- During the 27th working session of the 11th National Assembly
session held here yesterday, the deputies continued their debates on
readjustment of the draft trade law.

- Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore have signed visa agreements. Under
these agreements, visa procedures will be eliminated for diplomatic
staff and those on official government business among Vietnamese,
Singapore and Thai citizens starting this Saturday.

Hanoi Moi:

- In the first four months of this year, Hanoi achieved an
import-export value of US$154 million, an increase of 17.8 per cent
over the same period of 1996.

Vietnam News:

- Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has approved the construction of the Wide
Area Network (WAN), a new communications system for use by the
governments administrative organisations.

- Ho Chi Minh City industry output increased by 16.4 per cent in the
first four months.
                 ___________________________________


HongKong may be urged to keep Vietnamese boat people 

By EMMA BATHA and SHARON CHEUNG
South China Morning Post

Hong Kong could be pressed to accept up to 300 stateless boat people
rejected by Vietnam, a senior UN official said yesterday.

Assistant United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sergio Vieira
de Mello, is expected to raise the issue with the Chinese when he
flies to Beijing tomorrow.

He will also ask them to help prevent a new flood of Vietnamese
economic migrants arriving in Hong Kong by tightening border and
coastline patrols.

Mr Vieira de Mello is understood to have broached the subject of Hong
Kong absorbing the stateless boat people during yesterday's meetings
with Governor Chris Patten and legislators.

Reaction was said to be "not altogether unfavourable".

The 300 ethnic Chinese are among 2,713 non-refugees and 1,362 refugees
still in the territory. But Vietnam has refused to have them back,
claiming they are non-nationals.

Mr Vieira de Mello predicted up to 1,600 boat people - 1,100 refugees
and 500 non-refugees - would be left in Hong Kong after the handover.
About 200 non-refugees would not be able to leave before June 30
because of court cases or for medical reasons.

Asked if the UN would urge Hong Kong to take the stateless people, Mr
Vieira de Mello said: "I'm certainly not discounting that, but give me
a bit more time before I can be specific. I have not asked the
Governor for that yet.

"Our first priority is to assemble additional information that would
enable Vietnam to accept them as nationals. Should they not do that we
will have to look at other options, but I wouldn't want to put the
cart before the ox."

Mr Vieira de Mello was confident another 380 boat people still
awaiting clearance would be accepted by Vietnam in the next few days.

He also believed 200 to 300 refugees would be resettled before June
30.

Legislators said Vietnamese refugees who failed to leave Hong Kong
before the handover should be moved to Britain.

Security panel chairman James To Kun-sun said legislators on the panel
agreed Britain should become the holding centre or take the lead to
settle the refugees.
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