Who Should Emigrate? : Departure Program Hurt by U.S.-Vietnamese Feud

The Orderly Departure Program, launched in 1979 as an alternative to the Vietnamese boat people debacle, has been hampered in recent years by political quarrels between American and Vietnamese officials.

Although more than 40,000 Vietnamese have emigrated to the United States since the program began, the exodus could be slowed by continuing tensions between the two nations, according to United Nations officials, who operate the complex venture.

Earlier this year, Hanoi officials halted the interviews of Vietnamese who wished to leave the country and ordered two Western officials who had been conducting the interviews to leave Ho Chi Minh City.

The Vietnamese officials said they had already approved 20,000 citizens for departure, and that further interviews were unnecessary until the backlog had cleared.

Action Reflects Split

However, Nicholas van Praag, a U. N. spokesman, said the action reflected a growing split between America and Vietnam over who should be allowed to emigrate--and a serious threat to the program.

American officials, for example, have charged that the Vietnamese are not processing the names of more than 20,000 applicants who have been approved by U.S. interviewers.

These applicants include Vietnamese with family members already living in the United States, plus Amerasian children and their immediate family members. U.S. officials have also pressed for the release of the estimated 6,000 inmates in Vietnam’s so-called “re-education” camps.

The Vietnamese, in turn, have approved a separate list of 20,000 citizens for the Orderly Departure Program and complain that the United States has refused to admit these people. They have declined to release their political prisoners.

Concerned About Tone

Despite the impasse, there are ample numbers of Vietnamese who have been approved for departure by both countries to keep the program operating for some time. Still, U.N. officials are concerned that the amicable tone of the Orderly Departure Program has been jeopardized.

Talks have been scheduled in Bangkok this month between American and Vietnamese officials to iron out these differences and hopefully get the program back on track.

“This (snag) has become a serious problem,” Van Praag said. “Obviously this is a major setback for the problem as a whole, and we hope a compromise will be found.”