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13.
instances, they have been compelled to undertake re-education
courses, their property has been expropriated and they have
been denied normal civil rights including some of the most
important, the right to earn a living and to provide care and
an education for their children.
Such people may have served in
the armed forces under the previous regime or have been in the
administration or worked for American or other foreign companies.
There are other people who waited for as long as possible
to give the new regime a chance. From what we have gathered in
interviews, some of these people were sympathetic to the present
government but have been unable to adjust and have a well-founded
fear of being uprooted and forced to travel to areas away from
their homes and livelihoods. Most of the people..in this category
have arranged their own escapes.
Yet another group comprises people who have left Vietnam
by means said to be arranged by the Vietnamese Government. These
people have paid money to official sources for documentation,
transport to ports and passages on vessels. In some instances
outside entrepreneurs may have been involved, especially in the
case of large vessels which set sail around the end of last year.
For most of them, especially the ethnic Chinese, there is a good
case for saying that these people are within the Convention
definition since they have a well-founded fear of persecution
including expropriation of property and denial of civil rights
at the least. There must, however, be considerable doubt as to
how countries such as Australia should react to such organized
movements of people.
./14
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