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UNHCR had already declined to become involved in the repatriation of non-volunteers. The only explanation we heard from a returnee for their insistence on seeing UNHCR and Vietnamese representatives was to have some reassurance and guarantee about their treatment on return to Vietnam.
37. We heard no complaints about the treatment the returnees, both non-volunteers and volunteers, have received from the Vietnamese authorities since their return from Hong Kong. All said they were grateful for the help and sympathy they have found, although for some this had come as a surprise. There appears to have been no difference or discrimination in principle between the treatment accorded to volunteers and to non-volunteers by the Vietnamese authorities, although inevitably the volunteers, who returned earlier than 12 December 1989, are further ahead in the resettlement process and the volunteers to whom we spoke did not have the particular problems of the fishermen among the non-volunteers. Nonetheless, we foresee the possibility of de facto discrimination, not through any deliberate act of the Vietnamese authorities, but as a result of differing financial contributions for the resettlement of non-volunteers and volunteers. Britain is providing US$620 per head to Vietnam for the resettlement of non-volunteers, but we understand that the UNHCR is providing US$734 for volunteers. Vietnamese assured us that they would not discriminate between non-volunteers and volunteers, but they may find it hard to understand why the international community makes a distinction when it comes to contributions to the resettlement of similar people.
The
38.
The fishermen among the non-volunteers clearly face particular problems both in housing and employment. Without a boat they have neither, but a boat represents an enormous capital outlay which they cannot afford. The Vietnamese authorities are also unlikely in the short term to have such large sums available; and they are wary of being seen to reward people who fled the country illegally. We explored the possibility with the non-volunteers we interviewed of their looking for other employment, but it was obvious that there was a deep rooted sense of loyalty to the traditional family trade. So they are unlikely to settle until they have some prospect of returning to the way of life they know. Meanwhile they are sharing housing with others who have taken them in out of kindness. The accommodation is cramped - fifteen or more to one or two small rooms although we understand this is not unusual by Vietnamese standards and is probably not regarded as unacceptable by the returnees or their hosts. But, in a country where it is important to show appreciation for kindnesses, the damage to the self-esteem of returnees dependent on the charity of others and unable to reciprocate is clearly undesirable.
39.
We attach importance to the fact that the evidence that returnees are not being maltreated on their return to Vietnam is in line with the views of independent observers who work closely with the returnees.
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