First Published: Unity, Vol. 2, No. 14, July 13-26, 1979.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The stream of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Indochina is the direct result of Hanoi’s fascist persecution of the people of Viet Nam and its expansionism in Southeast Asia. Hanoi has starved and suppressed the people of Viet Nam, and has driven out tens of thousands from Kampuchea and Laos due to Hanoi’s takeover of these countries.
Only a fraction of the refugees have been able to resettle in other countries. Over 400,000 refugees are living in refugee camps swollen to the bursting point. Tragically close to that number have been killed at sea, and many thousands more will die the same way if something is not done immediately!
It is therefore with just cause that people around the world are comparing Hanoi’s cruel export of refugees to the Nazis’ despicable campaign against the Jews in the 1930’s.
The Vietnamese authorities have tried to say that the refugees are people “dislocated” by the U.S. war of aggression against Viet Nam, or that they are all “capitalists” unwilling to conform to the “new society.” But no one can take these lame rationalizations seriously. The war ended in 1975 – but the refugees didn’t start fleeing until mid-1978 as Viet Nam stepped up its expansionism. And how can Viet Nam, a small, undeveloped third world country, have a million capitalists?
Most outrageous is Hanoi’s charge that China is somehow responsible for creating the mass exodus. How can China force so many people in another country to leave their homes at the great risk of drowning in the South China Sea? Statements from the refugees themselves clearly condemn the Vietnamese government’s brutal repression as the reason they fled. Most disgusting is Hanoi’s practice of forcing the refugees to pay up to $3,000 in gold before they can leave.
The U.S. government’s stand in all this has been hypocritical. While expressing “concern” for the refugees, the U.S. has not strongly criticized Viet Nam because the U.S. does not want to offend the Soviet Union, Viet Nam’s sponsor and chief supporter. The U.S. has focused more of its attention on forcing the Southeast Asian nations to accept more refugees. This is not only hypocritical (since the U.S. has accepted few recent refugees) but dovetails with Viet Nam’s demand that the Southeast Asian countries bear the burden, and with Hanoi’s arrogant insistence that it is not responsible for the problem.
As for the Soviet social-imperialists, they not only refuse to have anything to do with the refugees, but they fully support and encourage Viet Nam’s actions.
The people of the U.S. must join together with the people of the world and demand that Viet Nam stop the persecution of its people and stop driving them out of the country. Public pressure and economic and political sanctions should be directed immediately against the Vietnamese government. The responsibility of the refugee problem lies completely on the shoulders of the authorities in Hanoi and their Soviet backers!
At the same time, until Hanoi is forced to change its policies, there is the urgent problem of settling the refugees. It is difficult for the poor, developing countries of Southeast Asia to deal with the mass exodus from Viet Nam. Therefore, we should demand that the U.S. government and other advanced capitalist countries accept more of the refugees.
Tens of thousands of people have died, and more are perishing each day. Their blood will forever be on the hands of the Vietnamese murderers.