East Asia






Unanticipated Results of War:  the Vietnamese Refugee Situation

by Dr. John C. Walsh




Writing this article in the shadow of the terrorist attacks on London, I am reminded of the words and the rhetoric used to justify actions.  While in Scotland, the G-8 leaders are meeting with a view to make progress on at least some of the great issues of our time, it is the ordinary people who are obliged to face on a daily basis the consequences of the actions of the many.  Calls to go to war, too, tend to feature great causes and historic results.  Yet some of the outcomes of the war are incalculable and are similarly borne by the vulnerable and the weak without publicity or public attention.  This article will highlight some of these unanticipated consequences.



The Vietnamese in Thailand


At the end of World War II, the French sought to re-establish control of their colonial possessions in what was then known as Indochina – that is, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  Many people, having been both inspired and suppressed by the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia, deeply resented the return of European colonists to the extent that they were prepared to take up arms against them. Warfare was unequal as the French were backed by significant military and industrial power, while the Vietnamese and others had little to offer other than their bravery and persistence.  Many fled to the Mekong River region, which they sought to cross covertly and establish bases in Thailand.  


Prior to World War II, Ho Chi Minh had spent time in this region of Thailand, helping to organise resistance to the French among Vietnamese migrants, and had enjoyed friendship with Pridi Banomyong, who had then achieved the post of Prime Minister.
The next few years were spent crossing and re-crossing the Mekong participating in guerrilla warfare against the French. Yet their welcome in Thailand was short-lived.


Pridi was deposed and the new government, under great pressure from the USA and other western powers, took steps to control the Vietnamese migrants. They were the first group ever to be declared illegal migrants in Thailand, which was a status that had not previously existed, as the borders of the Kingdom had been open before.  Vietnamese were required to register with authorities and remain in the province in which they were registered. Moving to another province, whether in search of work or for any other reason, was prohibited on pain of heavy fine or banishment to a camp in a remote location. Vietnamese were forbidden to speak their own language and their children were not eligible for public education. As people without status, they had next to no rights and were subject to constant harassment by authorities at many levels. Many thousands of migrants have spent decades, until quite recently, living in secrecy and subject to arrest and persecution at any time.  Many gave their children up for adoption so they could receive state education; others watched as their children were denied the opportunity to learn the language and customs of their homeland.  Apart from a brief period at the beginning of the 1960s, the Vietnamese government was reluctant to accept the return of migrants and those that did return were commonly subject to persecution and contempt by other people who labelled them ‘traitors’ or other terms.


People survived, as people so often do, on a day-by-day basis, struggling to avoid the negative aspects of bureaucracy and possible persecution and, above all, making the quiet daily sacrifices necessary to offer better opportunities for their children. Now, in 2005, steps are being taken to regularize the status of the stateless Vietnamese and the relationship between the two countries is much improved. Nevertheless, only a fraction of the stateless individuals have so far received official papers.



The Hmongs


During the Vietnam War – or the American War in Vietnam as it is also known -- pressure was placed on various ethnic minorities to join the war and to use their local knowledge to assist the American special forces. Among these were the Hmong people.


The Hmong are one of a large number of peoples who have migrated from southern China or northwestern Vietnam to Laos, Thailand and Burma over the course of centuries. The Hmong were living in Laos but their slash-and-burn agricultural methods and their reputation for opium smuggling set them apart from the rest of the population, and they were viewed with suspicion. They were recruited by the CIA to assist in providing logistics in the war and engaged in a variety of secret operations.


With the American defeat, the Hmong were left exposed and unwanted. In the years since, many Hmong have been relocated to northern parts of the USA, where they are required to come to terms with a harsh, cold climate in a country they had no thought to visit, yet alone make a life there.  


However, many more Hmong live in refugee camps along the Thailand border.  From time to time, as for example over the last few days, plans are announced to relocate the Hmong back to Laos since, in effect, no one really wants them.  Some Hmong protest, there are threats of hunger strikes and some die by misadventure or accident or just because of the difficult conditions in which people are obliged to live.  While it seems that some bilateral dialogue between the Thai-Laotian government might resolve the immediate crisis, the long-term prospects of the Hmong people are no clearer.




Shadows


The dangers of inaction are often as great as the dangers of action and, of course, we have a responsibility to help to make the world as good a place as possible. There will always be the victims, those who are maimed, killed, orphaned, marooned, abandoned or disadvantaged in one of a thousand different ways. That means that while we may favour intervention and on some occasions be justified in doing so, we should be mindful of the outcomes of our actions and be ready to apply humane understanding to the human cost.




References and Further Reading


"Talks on Hmong Return Next Week," Bangkok Post (July 8th, 2005), downloaded from: http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/08Jul2005_news12.php.


Walsh, John, "The 1945 Vietnamese Migrants in Thailand," Sudostasien (forthcoming).

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