Save The Vietnamese Refugees

earnest response to the "Empty Pocket Operation"

Today, places on both sides of the Taiwan Strait - Hong Kong, Singapore etc. - are very prosperous.

Nonetheless, in some corners of the so-called "free world", some of our compatriots are still confined behind bars, leading a life without any future. At present, it seems they will not even be able to keep their last ground within the barbed wire fence. On this vast planet, they have nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Only the roaring and churning ocean is waiting to swallow them up.

These people who are in great misery fled in large groups from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Of the twenty thousand something refugees now trapped in Hong Kong, more than half are overseas Chinese. Even the Vietnamese refugees are kin brothers, of the same race and culture, of the ethnic Chinese.

Ever since South Vietnam was "liberated" by North Vietnam twenty years ago, the overseas Chinese there have been the most ill-treated and discriminated against. Consequently, large numbers of Chinese people in Vietnam, and also native South Vietnamese, have continuously tried to flee abroad. Very few of them have survived the churning sea and succeeded in resettling in a third free country. They have been accommodated in "refugee camps" in Asian countries, in places like Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, etc. The largest refugee population is in Hong Kong, amounting to over twenty thousand. Those in the Hong Kong refugee camps are the most unfortunate ones. Using tall wire fences, the Hong Kong government restricts the actions of the refugees, who are addressed by the camp authorities by their numbers instead of their names. Despite all the ill treatment, the refugees still tolerate it and live amicably in the camps.

According to the Constitution of the United Nations, nobody should be stripped of their freedom unless they have been convicted of a crime. The refugees have committed no crime. They have lived in exile in the hope of gaining freedom. However, they have even lost their freedom in this so-called "free region", which is indeed the greatest irony in the free world.

Financial Support Terminated, Executing The Forced Repatriation

The expenditures of the Hong Kong refugee camps were originally paid for by the UNHCR who has been receiving, for a long time, donations for the refugees from some member nations. Some member nations have ceased giving donations during these past two years, so the United Nations is running short of funds for the refugees. Because it owes the Hong Kong government one or two hundred million dollars, the United Nations announced this year that they would terminate their contributions to the refugees. At the same time, the UN is continuing to use the established CPA policy of screening to decide the status of the refugees. Those screened as non-refugees face repatriation back home. This screening process is unfair. Only two to three percent of the refugees ever pass the screening. Many have been classified as "non-refugees" even though there is proof that they would be persecuted if repatriated. This screening process is simply a guise in order to force the refugees back into the inferno.

Using the excuses of no available funds and of the implementation of the CPA screening policy, the Hong Kong government has decided to repatriate the refugees by force. This is a death sentence to the refugees who have risked their lives and have succeeded in escaping. They prefer death to be repatriated back to Vietnam. Many of them have resorted to hunger strikes and suicide as a means of protest.

On April 7 of this year, to suppress the protests of the refugees, the Hong Kong government sent more than a thousand armed police into the Whitehead Refugee Camp trying to execute the forced repatriation. Many tear gas shells were fired at the refugees who resisted the repatriation.

How Can The Free World Face Its Own Conscience?

Many of the overseas Chinese Vietnamese refugees, either they themselves or their fathers and/or brothers, were drafted to join the combat before the fall of South Vietnam. If they were to be sent back now, it would be like driving them into an abyss more agonizing than death. How is the free world supposed to face its own conscience? How can we Chinese people just sit and do nothing to help the suffering refugees, our own brothers and sisters of the same blood lineage?

Chinese And Vietnamese Are Of The Same Ancestral Lineage

The Chinese nation was once esteemed as the "central nation" in history, and has long been a main leader of the world. The reason being that it adhered to the ancient doctrine of "the treasure of the nation lies in treating the neighboring countries well". They protected their neighbor countries and treated them with courtesy. Vietnam is a nation built by a tribe of the Southern Chinese people. For a long time in history, it was a protectorate of China, offering tributes to and receiving protection from her. The Vietnamese were intelligent and peace loving, and have maintained harmony with China for many thousands of years. They have also shown great courtesy to the Chinese migrating to Vietnam, and helped them to settle down. Enormous "China Towns" were formed. The Vietnamese used to address the Chinese intimately as "third elder brother or sister", which aptly described the harmony between the two groups of people. Looking back into our mutual history, and observing the large number of overseas Chinese in the refugee camps, how can we, the Chinese descendants, exert no effort to help?

Seeking From The General Public Lost Noble Ideals

So far, we have heard nothing from government authorities about helping the refugees. On the contrary, there are many supportive voices from the ordinary people. On April 29 of this year, more than thirty governmental representatives of the Taiwanese people jointly signed a protest letter against the violent suppression of the refugees by the Hong Kong government. In early May, over 1.3 million people from more than thirty countries signed to support the Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong, encouraging them, "Be brave! Don't die!" Among this 1.3 million signatures, a million of them were from Taiwan. This clearly shows that humanitarian ideals and the love for fellow compatriots is still a prominent concern of the general public at large.

The One who inspired these million loving hearts, and called upon the consciences of the world to care for the refugees, was the Supreme Master Ching Hai, of Vietnamese origin, along with Her disciples from all over the world. On many occasions She has been honored by the United States government, being given with the World Peace Award and the World Spiritual Leadership Award, etc.

Empty Your Pockets To Save The Refugees, Human Lives Are More Valuable Than Money

Of Vietnamese origin, the Supreme Master Ching Hai studied in Europe, and sought the Truth in India. Apart from teaching people to reach enlightenment, and practicing spiritually for liberation, She also endeavors to aid disaster victims throughout the world. She has exerted Her utmost efforts in helping the Vietnamese refugees in particular. For years, She has repeatedly extended to the Hong Kong government Her wish to help the Vietnamese refugees, but there has been no response. She has also negotiated with the governments of more than thirty countries, hoping they would accept the Vietnamese refugees. In a proposal that She submitted to these governments, She offers Her entire wealth of about five to six million U.S. dollars, supplemented by fifty to sixty thousand U.S. dollars monthly, which would be contributed by the members of the International Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Association. This money is to pay for the living expenses of the twenty thousand Vietnamese refugees. The Meditation Association would also provide vocational training and counseling to the refugees, until they can stand on their own in the society. In this way, the accepting country would spend no money on the refugees, and gain twenty thousand workers to help develop the country's economy. This project is beneficial to both sides, and at the same time solves the long-standing international problem of the Vietnamese refugees, which has lasted over 20 years. This "empty your pocket campaign" to save the refugees is still awaiting the response of some compassionate nations. To spread this saving message, the World Cultural Communication Association held an International Human Rights Conference in Taipei on May 25 of this year. Participants included people and reporters from more than thirty countries, who have since spread to all parts of the world the appeal and proposed project by the Supreme Master Ching Hai to save the Vietnamese refugees.