Document 2
FROM
PETITION THE VIET NAM REFUGEE
ΤΟ
NATIONAL COUNCIL
HMG Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,
Foreign Secretary,Sir Geoffrey Howe, Houses of Parliament.
We, the Vietnamese,,refugees, in the United
Kingdom, their elected representatives
Considering that all refugees from
locally and nationally, their sympathisers the House of Lords on 16th December 1987
in which the Law Lords stated that:"" Viet- real test for Refugee Status was nam in the UK are forever in debt to Bri- there is a reasonable tish people and its government political asylum granted to us during the last decade;
for
Considering that if we seek asylum, it is been because our basic human rights have seriously violated under the relented op- the dictatorship pression maintained by of the current regime in Vietnam;
prov-
pub-
light
or
The whether degree of likely- the hood that an applicant will be prosecuted if returned to for a Convention reason his own country.". "If such a risk does
information exist on the basis of ided by press, Amnesty International lications and other sources in the
known of the facts and circumstances established to him, he may be granted ref- ugee status."The ruling has important im-
people plications for boat
from Vietnam because who are under screening process it represents a significant development of the of the UK of the interpretation
relat- 1951. Convention and 1967. Protocol ing to the status of refugees.
c) International and Folitical Rights, European on Human Rights relating procedures.
oppress- Considering that this political ion has intensified with time since 1975, and the Vietnamese people are still pref- erring to risk their lives during any es- rather than allowing cape for freedom themselves to wither away in the tyranni- cal regime of communism;
Cosidering that all arrivals from Vietnam are therefore assumed to be genuine refu- gees because no one of sound their life unless to escape tain death or persecution;
on Covenant
Civil Convention to the Appeal
is
stipulations legitimacy
would risk (2) Now that the screening procedure from a cer- in operation,, the following
are proposed to safeguard the of the refugees from Vietnam:
to
be
Cosidering that all the Vietnamese in the
and sad
a) The screening procedure should UK are extremely disappointed
and placed that news dened by the
reviewed as soon as possible procedure
the light screen new arrivals in Hongkong is now in under supervision of UNHCR in
is of the facts and opinions of Human Rights operation and this screening approved by HMG, through the Office of Sir Organisations. Geoffrey Howe;
measure
Considering that the implication
screening are meant
if they
of this that the risk lives of asylum seekers forced to return to Vietnam because will undoubtedly face
+
should b) The criteria for screening
publicised and be clearly established based upon international agreements.
shall be screened to
c) Those who are
to are immediately informed of their rights they legal representation by person or persons the fate of life of their own choice and the rights to be referred within 48 hours to the compe- tent body, or before the screening process is made.
imprisonment and other persecutions;
PETITION
(1) HMG and Houses of Parliament to do in and in accordance the name of Humanity with the following instruments:
d) They should be given written mate- issues rials in their own language about mentioned in paragraphs (la), (lb), (1c) and (2b) of this pecution.
e) Those found to be genuine case for granting asylum should be provided better a) 1951 UN Convention and 1967 Proto- conditions to live while awaiting reset- col relating
the Status of Refugees tlement in third countries instead of be- and also to other humanitarian policies ing accommodated in closed camps. carried out under the mandate of the Off- ice by the UN General Assembly
last 37 years.
to
b) New rulings on Refugee
over
Status
by
f) Those screened out shall be enti- their the tled to a full and fair hearing of
case and informed immediately by a writ-
(To be continued on p. 14)
PETITION..
(continued)
A
а
appeal to ten notice of his right of fully impartial and independent body. They should assisted and well informed during also proposed the appeal process. It is that the appellant should be given writ- ten material in their own language right to access to an advocate with a degree of protection to undertake this procedure.
g) Appeal procedure shall comply with notions of fairness set out in Article 14 Covenant on Civil of the International and Political Rights, and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
h) The wellfare and
14 DIEN DAN
safety of
the
forced returnees
if any
should be moni- internat- tored over a long period by an
all ional authority that has free assess
structures in through the gevernmental Vietnam.
be put i) Political pressure should on the Vietnamese Communist government to between maintaining redress the balance
region and the ambition to dominate the the survival of its people, to avoid human tragedy on a large scale in this century.
London, 4th July, 1988
700
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