The Open Letter

A Christmas Prayer From
The Au Lac Refugees In Hong Kong

A Christmas Offering From
The Hong Kong Government To God?

The agonizing tears of the Au Lac refugees make the blood spill from Master's heart. For many years Master has been approaching many nations, trying to persuade the policy makers with Her love to give the asylum-seekers more compassion and fewer restrictions. With great patience, She pleaded with the free world to open the door to accept these freedom fighters, who abhor communism and have fled bravely, risking their lives.

Thousands of open letters and petitions have been sent out through all sorts of media and humanitarians! It was hoped that there could be a turning point in the situation. Unfortunately, thousands of supporting voices and the mournful pleading of the refugees failed to rouse and stir their consciences.

The open letter below was written by Master on Christmas night five years ago in Hong Kong. All the violence, bloodshed and repatriation happening today had been forementioned in the letter!

Any refugee from a communist country is entitled to be classified as political refugee. Because they refuse to have faith in the “workable” ideal of communism. Even though they are believed to have fled because of economical reasons, this very reason is their right claim to political refugee status. After all, it is communism that caused their economical struggle.

Their fight with communism should be backed up by all citizens of the free world because they are on our side; they believe in the same goal and ideal, a non-communist world, a free democratic policy!

If we shut them out, it's likely to force people to bear communism and dare not voice their opposition in future. When people have no guns, no political power, no money and still risk their lives and the lives of their family to fight for freedom, even though they fight with empty hands in open and dangerous sea, with sinking boats and pirate threats, their courage should be praised and upheld, not rejected and crushed.

Their hope is our hope, for no one who is sane enough would want a communist regime. If that is what we always aspire to, a world of freedom and prosperity, we should open arms and protect our feeble, helpless but courageous friends, because they are fighting alongside with us (the soldiers of the free world) in their pitiful way. They fight for the human ideal: freedom which every human has a right to.

To turn them away is to choke to death the hope of a free world in future and to encourage the communists to tighten their grip on people and to agree to the policy of communism.

The world not yet gone to the dogs if every nation gives a hand on the Au Lac refugee issue to ease Hong Kong's burden. Those refugees will be glad to contribute their lives, talents to their 'rebirth motherland' with all their gratefulness; and so will their children and grandchildren.

If the Hong Kong government gives a little more time and the UNO pleas with all nations to help in this matter, all will be well soon.

Is it fun to gulp down your expensive whisky while knowing that others, our brothers and sisters, struggle for a piece of cloth and a handful of rice, no matter for what reason they have to struggle for these basic necessities in life?

We often hear “situations make heroes”. We forget to add “situations make bandits too!” There was a story about the orange, which was sweet when planted in northern China, and turned sour when planted in Southern China. Those Au Lac people who are forced to live in unimaginable, over-heated and crammed conditions might be the victim of their situation. Hence the sometimes broke out violence was inevitable. Given a better choice, these unfortunate souls will be different and better beings. But the Hong Kong government is not to be blamed for everything. No matter how inhumane she seems, she should also be praised for she had accepted and took care of the refugees all this time with patience, although it might not have been in the best way.

The capable nations in the world should help out. This is a better fight than to use weapons and bloodshed. If all the Au Lac people fled away, the Au Lac communistic ideal will die!

We of this letter beg the Hong Kong government to give the policy of forced repatriation more consideration in all aspects, and some more time.

Some arrangements will be made with all the Au Lac people in the world to locate those who are capable of sponsoring and looking after the Au Lac refugees from their own earnings until these refugees find their own means of supporting themselves. This will be done if Hong Kong and other nations allow easy and fast paper work.

There is an immediate donation of US$5 millions for the cause, and more to come if this idea could be realized.

The arrangement with the Au Lac people abroad is already under way. The reason we did not move was that not every Au Lac person abroad knew about the plight of their people in Hong Kong until recently. And even if they had known, they would not have known how to go about to help, or to contact whom in this matter.

There are obvious reasons for the Au Lac people to flee their homeland -- the unreasonable regime of communism, since over 4000 years of Au Lac history, no one had ever escaped from Au Lac and we cannot say there was no poverty then. Even under the Chinese dictatorship or under the French control, the Au Lac people bore all these with the patience of angels.

So the question of economic or political refugee status should never have been raised in the first place. If it should be so, what is the status of east Germans who fled to the west? Are they all political refugees? Have they all been proven to be ill-treated by the east German communist government?

God dwells in all beings. To help your neighbors is to help God! Why should there be frontiers between people and nations if we are all children of God. All nations belong to one leader: God. All humans belong to this nation.

Due to the strong will of thousands of east Germans who fled to west Germany for freedom in protest of the communist policy, that the Berlin wall finally cracked down. And in the future, the credit will be due to the thousands of Au Lac refugees who risk their lives at a greater danger and cost to fight for freedom in their meek and lonely way, that the communist regime in Au Lac will fall.

Sing Tao Daily News 21 September 1994

The Secretary for Security, Alistar Asprey, briefed to the Executive Council yesterday on the camp transfer operation of the Vietnamese asylum seekers at High Island Detention camp.

After the briefing, several Hong Kong government officials and Executive Councillors expressed that the Correctional Services Department officers had used reasonable force in order to accomplish the camp transfer operation. However, there were non-government groups criticizing that the force that Hong Kong government had used amounted to overkill, and they challenged the sincerity of the Hong Kong government in implementing the recommendations contained in the Whitehead camp raid inquiry report.

In an open letter written to the Deputy Secretary for Security Ken Woodhouse, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese in Hong Kong pointed out that as the Hong Kong Government already knew those boat people who had been moved earlier from Whitehead to High Island were in the mood of strong resistance, they still chose to forcefully repatriate. This would only lead to violent incidents. This organization also queried the government with respect to the criteria they use to choose boat people for the new Orderly repatriation plan.

They also criticized the government absolutely wasted resources by using more than 600 CSD and police officers together with pepper fog teargas to remove 11 boat people on the camp roof. Moreover, the Hong Kong government used force in the operation under the monitor of non-government organizations which would make one feel doubtful about the sincerity of appointing third party monitors by the government.