TRAC Indochina Resource Action Center
1628 16th, St., N.W. 3rd Floor, Washington D.C. 20009 Tel:(202)667-4690 Fax:(202)667-6449
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OF ACTION
SUBMITTED TO
THE WORKING GROUP ON RECEPTION & SCREENING
OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON INDOCHINESE REFUGEES, JUNE 1989
We welcome and support the commitments expressed by all participants at the Preparatory Conference in Kuala Lumpur in March 1989. In particular, we endorse the commitment to grant temporary refuge to Indochinese asylum-seekers embodied in the Comprehensive Plan of Action ("CPA") prepared at the Conference (Section 3). Measures implementing this international good faith commitment should ensure immediate protection and assistance to all asylum-seekers, whether on incoming boats or already on land. Such measures should be reflected in national legislative acts and administrative regulations of the Asian nations concerned.1
We further encourage this working group to implement fair and proper measures for a regional status determination ("screening") process provided in the CPA (Section 4). The measures should make sure procedures are consistently administered to all asylum-seekers, and evaluations are made in good faith based upon criteria in keeping with international refugee and human rights standards. In the spirit of cooperation, we submit to this Working Group the following recommendations for implementation of the screening process.
I. CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING REFUGEE STATUS
The screening criteria established under Section 4 of the CPA are based upon (1) the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, as interpreted authoritatively in the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status ("Handbook") of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ("UNHCR"); and (2) the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant instruments concerning refugees. Under the CPA, the screening criteria must be applied with a humanitarian spirit, taking into account the special situation of Vietnamese asylum-seekers and respecting the family unit. While the training of interviewers in proper questioning procedures and factual background of life in Vietnam will promote the humanitarian spirit required, the criteria themselves are the starting point from which humanitarian determinations are made.
Screening criteria should focus on whether the asylum-seeker has a well-founded fear of persecution as defined in the Handbook or, alternatively, a likelihood and fear of personal subjection to human rights violations as defined by international human rights