Observers Dubious About Easing of Bans on Trips : Vietnam Travel Plan Greeted Cautiously

Vietnamese-Americans in Orange County reacted with caution and suspicion Tuesday to a report that the Vietnamese government plans to relax travel restrictions and allow citizens to go abroad for such purposes as medical care, schooling and family business.

Dieu Le, a staff member of Nguoi Viet, a daily Vietnamese-language newspaper published in Garden Grove, said it remains to be seen exactly how such a policy will be carried out and what restrictions will be imposed. Others quickly labeled the report a ploy designed to dupe Westerners.

“Communist Party officials maybe, but I don’t think they will let ordinary people out,” said a worker at the Vietnamese Center, a Catholic community agency in Garden Grove.

Ho Van Xuan Nhi, a Cypress resident and aide to Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), said the Vietnamese government has on only rare occasions allowed its ordinary citizens to travel abroad. He said he expects that policy to continue.

Change Adopted Friday

The official change in the government’s position was adopted as law Friday and was reported Tuesday on Radio Hanoi, according to the West German news agency, DPA, which monitors Radio Hanoi from Bangkok.

The report outlined various categories of people who would be eligible for foreign travel for specific periods. Vietnamese citizens who want to visit immediate relatives, who want to transport the remains of dead relatives or who want to resolve personal problems will be issued three-month visas, according to the DPA account.

The account said that only students would be allowed to extend their visas and that they would be eligible for the documents only if they have “proper guarantees provided by their families and show a good political attitude.”

Vietnamese citizens serving criminal sentences or those considered security risks will not be able to obtain visas, according to the DPA account.

Tony Russo, a spokesman for the Los Angeles-based Vietnam-America Friendship Assn. who traveled in Vietnam in 1980, said he sees the change in policy as part of a normalization process that has been going on at least since 1980.

“I have noticed a gradual liberalization of all their policies,” he said, noting that the government opened Vietnam to tourism last year and has allowed visits by Vietnamese-Americans.

Roberta Newell, an officer in the U.S. State Department’s Eastern Asia Bureau in Washington, said she was awaiting a detailed, written version of the Radio Hanoi report.

“It sounds good. It sounds positive,” Newell said. “but the significance will come in the implementation.”