Ms. Hanh describes the grim prison atmosphere of the camps. According to her statement, "[m]ost have high fences with up to 12 rolls of barbed wire..." and "... [w]ith the exception of a few smaller camps that have trees, only steel, metal and concrete surround the detainees." The prison-like environment is
intensified by the severe restrictions on movement between sections of the camp, or even from hut to hut.
According to Ms. Hanh, for the asylum seekers, "... the hardest pain is the uncertainty of the future, the discouragement by the Hong Kong Government and the UN, and the prospect of life in bondage in Vietnam." Those who chose voluntary repatriation "do so because of the security problem in camp
the fear for their lives is more immediate in detention." Asylum seekers are presented with a grisly choice between fear of persecution on return to Vietnam, or fear of violent encounters, even death, if they remain in the camps.
Apart from Ms. Tran's statement, there are also recent reports of intimidation of Vietnamese boat people who have received visits and consultations from lawyers. See South China Morning Post, Dec. 8, 1990. After these legal visits, the boat people were reportedly interrogated about the subject matter and details of the visits, including questioning on how the individuals knew to contact lawyers, and who the lawyers were. Id. Such interrogation can only serve to dissuade asylum seekers from availing themselves of legal counsel, and may deprive them of meaningful access to courts and other adjudicatory mechanisms to address their legal problems, including challenging substandard conditions of detention.
The detention of Vietnamese boat people under its 1988 policy is now prolonged. It's onerous character and deterrence rationale render it clearly arbitrary. Customary international law prohibits prolonged arbitrary detention by a State. This is so even though the State has not acceded to any of the myriad of international instruments that prohibit such mistreatment.
Indeed, all of the major human rights instruments recognize a right not to be arbitrarily detained by the state. See, e.g International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature Dec. 19, 1966, art. 9, G.A. Res. 2200, 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 54, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1967) (entered into force Mar. 23, 1976) ("Everyone has the right to liberty and security
'The origins of the current problems in the detention camps are confirmed by reports issued in 1990 by Amnesty International and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children; and in 1988 by the Indochina Resource Action Center.
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