[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 493 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 493

Urging that certain actions be taken with respect to Vietnamese asylum 
                                seekers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 1996

 Mr. Dornan submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
   the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Urging that certain actions be taken with respect to Vietnamese asylum 
                                seekers.

Whereas after the United Nations Comprehensive Plan of Action program in Asia 
        for Vietnamese refugees ended on June 30, 1996, there are no fewer than 
        20,000 Vietnamese asylum seekers who remain in the refugee camps in Hong 
        Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, half of whom are from 
        South Vietnam, and some of these apparently qualify for resettlement to 
        the United States under United States laws relating to immigration and 
        refugees;
Whereas on July 25, 1996, an interim report to the Congress by the General 
        Accounting Office relating to its investigation of the United Nations 
        Comprehensive Plan of Action program describes inconsistencies in the 
        implementation of the United Nations program throughout Southeast Asia 
        and within individual countries, that excluded Vietnamese asylum seekers 
        who would otherwise be classified as refugees under international and 
        United States law, including section 599D(b)(2)(C) of the Foreign 
        Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
        1990 (referred to as the ``Lautenberg Criteria'');
Whereas the General Accounting Office has found that Vietnamese asylum seekers 
        who remain in the refugee camps and face forced repatriation to Vietnam 
        include former special forces and other soldiers employed by the United 
        States Government during the Vietnam War, Amerasian children, spouses 
        and children of Vietnamese-American citizens and permanent resident 
        aliens, members of the clergy, prodemocracy dissidents, and former 
        political prisoners;
Whereas there has been an increase in violence and intimidation by refugee camp 
        officials and paramilitary forces in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, 
        including numerous eyewitness reports of United Nations officials being 
        present but not intervening during incidents of brutality against men, 
        women, and children in the camps;
Whereas, in addition, the United Nations has provided funds for forced 
        repatriation operations, such as the June 29, 1996, incident in Sikiew 
        Camp in Thailand which resulted in 2 deaths and numerous injuries;
Whereas information from Vietnam through repatriated asylum seekers and official 
        Vietnamese Communist media indicates that some repatriated refugees, 
        whether they returned to Vietnam voluntarily or by force, have been 
        subjected to imprisonment or harassment by Communist officials because 
        of their religious or political beliefs;
Whereas the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees program, 
        initiated by the Department of State in 1995, has excluded a substantial 
        number of Vietnamese asylum seekers who have a relationship with the 
        United States;
Whereas in Vietnam, repatriated refugees lack information on registration for 
        the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees program, and 
        those who registered for the program prior to repatriation have not been 
        interviewed by United States officials for resettlement in the United 
        States; and
Whereas some repatriated Vietnamese asylum seekers who are applicants for the 
        Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees program have been 
        subjected to intimidation by Vietnamese Communist officials, and United 
        States officials have told asylum seekers that the program cannot 
        protect them from the Vietnamese Communist government: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1)(A) the United States should demand that forced 
        repatriation and the inhumane treatment of Vietnamese asylum 
        seekers should cease and that the United Nations should not be 
        involved in or provide funds for such activities; and
            (B) Vietnamese asylum seekers who, on appeal to the United 
        Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, have been designated as 
        refugees should be protected from repatriation and interviewed 
        immediately by the United States for resettlement in the United 
        States;
            (2) Vietnamese asylum seekers in the refugee camps in Hong 
        Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, who have a 
        relationship with the United States, such as Amerasians and 
        people who apparently qualify as refugees under the Lautenberg 
        Criteria, including former military and political employees of 
        the United States Government, members of the clergy, and 
        spouses and children of United States citizens and permanent 
        resident aliens, should be given access to United States 
        immigration officials for resettlement interviews;
            (3) those Vietnamese asylum seekers who are accepted for 
        resettlement in the United States should be admitted under the 
        fiscal year 1997 immigration ceiling for Vietnamese nationals; 
        and
            (4)(A) those Vietnamese asylum seekers previously 
        repatriated to Vietnam who have volunteered for the 
        Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees program of 
        the Department of State should be immediately interviewed for 
        resettlement in the United States under the Lautenberg 
        Criteria;
            (B) the United States should assure the protection of all 
        applicants to the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 
        Returnees program from incarceration or harassment from 
        Vietnamese officials; and
            (C) asylum seekers repatriated to Vietnam before having an 
        opportunity to sign up for the Resettlement Opportunities for 
        Vietnamese Returnees program should be provided with the 
        regulations and application forms for the program.
                                 <all>