County Vietnamese Briefed on Piracy Issue : Attacks Decrease on Boat Refugees, U.S. Official Says

Attacks by pirates on Vietnamese boat refugees in the Gulf of Thailand have decreased, but abductions are continuing and many refugees remain missing, a State Department official said Thursday in Santa Ana.

“In the first six months of this year, there have been no known reported deaths due to piracy,” said Steven J. Kraus, coordinator of the Boat Rescue Program at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, in a briefing for Orange County Vietnamese community leaders.

Attacks have dropped despite a doubling of the number of refugees fleeing Vietnam, said Kraus, who spoke to about 35 community leaders at the office of Vietnamese Community Inc., a private, nonprofit organization in Santa Ana.

The briefing, believed to be the first for Orange County’s Vietnamese community on the piracy issue, was arranged last week through the State Department.

Need to Speak Out

Kraus emphasized the need for Vietnamese leaders to remain vocal on the piracy issue, telling those present, “It’s you people who have experienced it, or know of family members who have been victimized.

“You don’t realize how much power you really have and the pressure you can bear on the State Department.”

During a question-and-answer period, Tuong Nguyen, chairman of the Refugee Forum of Orange County, asked whether any Orange County legislators “have visited Bangkok or have come out and publicly supported the piracy problem.”

“None that I know of, although California congressman have expressed interest,” Kraus responded.

Travis Nguyen, an accountant from Westminster, said Vietnamese refugees should no longer be forced to sign criminal complaints when victimized by pirates. “Our people cannot sign because they are afraid,” he said.

Nguyen, who escaped from Vietman by boat, said he was among 100 refugees who were robbed by Thai pirates while crossing the gulf to Malaysia in 1979. “I signed the (criminal report), but nothing ever came of it. I was never contacted again.”

Women Abducted

A year later, he and his family immigrated to the United States, he said.

Nhat-Tien, a writer and member of Orange County’s Boat People SOS Committee, asked whether the State Department can shift its focus to help an estimated 3,500 women who some California Vietnamese groups claim have been abducted by pirates and sold into prostitution or as slave labor.

Kraus said Vietnamese community leaders should request that U.S. dollars be earmarked to help locate missing women. However, he warned against Vietnamese families spending great sums of money to hire investigators to search for missing relatives, especially women.

“Thousands of dollars have been spent to pay someone to go into the brothels and massage parlors in Bangkok. But to date, not one person has been found this way,” he said.

The figures Kraus released for last year contrast dramatically with those of previous years, where fierce attacks by Thai fishing vessels often ended in rape, torture and murder. In 1981, 80% of all refugee boats arriving in southern Thailand reported being stopped by pirates. In the same year, 455 deaths were reported from such attacks, and 360 people were reported missing and presumed dead, Kraus said.

Unreported Deaths

“How many others were drowned or perished and their deaths went unreported is unknown,” Kraus said.

Since 1982, when the United States joined 11 other countries to fund an anti-piracy effort, the percentage of refugee boats that were attacked by pirates dropped from 69% in 1982 to 44% in 1986. During the first four months of 1987, Kraus said, only 17% of the 60 refugee boats arriving in southern Thailand were attacked.

Meanwhile, the number of cases that resulted in arrests went from zero in 1982 to 18 in 1986, according to Kraus. Thirty-six accused pirates have been found guilty and sentenced to an average of 16 years in prison each, he said, and 34 more await court trials.

Kraus attributed the decrease in attacks to an emphasis on a “land-based” enforcement program that has resulted in more money for faster boats, electronic eavesdropping and anti-piracy education programs for the Royal Thailand police.

The United States and the 10 other countries contribute $2.6 million annually to the U.N. High Commission on Refugees; $1 million of that comes from the United States. Some of the funds go to support the Royal Thailand police, navy and harbor department as part of the anti-piracy program, Kraus said.