121 Boat People Fly Home to Vietnam
A group of 121 Vietnamese boat people flew out of Hong Kong today, the third group to choose repatriation to an impoverished homeland over a life behind barbed wire in a detention center.
The volunteers, who risked pirates and storms on their outbound voyages in search of a better life abroad, returned home in far more comfort aboard an airliner chartered by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
UNHCR officials will monitor their progress on their return and ensure that Vietnam sticks to its pledge not to harass the volunteers for having left the country illegally.
One passenger, Tran Thi Tam, 60, told reporters that she was kidnaped by three of her compatriots who stole nine ounces of gold to pay for their journey. She said they dragged her along to prevent her from informing on them.
Le Thi Minh said she applied to go back just two days after arriving in Hong Kong. “My family wanted to leave, and they forced me to join them in the boat when I turned up to say goodby to them.”
The first group of 74 volunteers left March 2 and the second, numbering 68, departed April 12.
Hong Kong, which has been forced to hold new arrivals on a remote island until space becomes available in its overflowing refugee centers, hopes that many more will follow their lead.
Hong Kong’s population of Vietnamese boat people now stands at more than 53,000.
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