United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-12-31 monographic deposited born digital 48 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-97-51 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51 P0b002ee1803793e2 f:ns97051 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51 NSIAD-97-51 Political refugees International relations International organizations Foreign governments Immigration or emigration Eligibility criteria Eligibility determinations Embassies UNHCR Comprehensive Plan of Action Indonesia Philippines Malaysia Hong Kong Dept. of State Orderly Departure Program Vietnam Letter Report NSIAD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how the refugee status determination process worked for a selected number of Vietnamese asylum seekers in Southeast Asia, focusing on: (1) the international refugee criteria used under the Comprehensive Plan of Action; and (2) how the screening process was implemented.<p/>GAO found that: (1) beginning in late 1994, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) undertook a regionwide review of screened-out cases to determine whether asylum seekers would qualify for resettlement according to established family unity criteria; (2) UNHCR reviewed hundreds of cases, but found most failed to meet the program criteria; (3) UNHCR identified a small number of cases in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines that met the criteria prior to UNHCR mandating the asylum seekers as refugees; (4) among these were 72 cases that were forwarded to U.S. embassies for consideration for resettlement; (5) while the United States initially accepted 23 of 36 cases for resettlement in Malaysia, it refused to review 36 similar cases from Indonesia and the Philippines; (6) the U.S. embassies in the latter two countries refused to review any case that was not first mandated by UNHCR, on the other hand, UNHCR would not issue a mandate without some assurance from the resettlement countries that cases would be approved; (7) this impasse was never resolved and those asylum seekers identified by UNHCR were not reunited with family members in the United States through this process; (8) victim of violence cases involved individuals who were physically assaulted on the way to, or upon arriving in, one of the first asylum countries; (9) according to UNHCR officials, because of the trauma and abuse the individuals suffered, many were unable to articulate their claim for refugee status; (10) to avoid subjecting vulnerable persons to the rigors of the regular screening process, UNHCR established special procedures to determine a durable solution in the "best interest" of these individuals; (11) depending on where the best support structure existed, individuals could be returned to Vietnam to live with family or resettled in a third country; (12) of the 74 merit cases GAO reviewed, it appears that most did not present strong refugee claims based on evidence contained in the files; (13) many case files were well-documented and presented detailed facts and logical explanations for decisions that were made, while others contained documents that pointed to differences and inconsistencies in the way claims may have been handled; and (14) as a result, in some cases, GAO could not determine how well the case files reflected the presentation of the asylum seekers' claims. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51.pdf GAO/NSIAD-97-51 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-51 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-97-51; Vietnamese Asylum Seekers: A Review of Selected Cases in Four Southeast Asia Countries; Political refugees International relations International organizations Foreign governments Immigration or emigration Eligibility criteria Eligibility determinations Embassies UNHCR Comprehensive Plan of Action Indonesia Philippines Malaysia Hong Kong Dept. of State Orderly Departure Program Vietnam