#fromthearchives: Nguyen Thi Trung Tuyen

Going through these archives, we tend to find letters and photographs written by family members who were left behind in Vietnam and even in refugee camps. They give a micro-history point of view, for example showcasing how family members try to find ways to contact one another through different mail addresses. These documents also give us insight into how political policies affected everyday people, and remind us that even those this letter was dated in 1991, 16 years after the Fall of Saigon, the repercussions of the war still lingered. 

This particular letter, written by Nguyen Thi Trung Tuyen, was written to her older brother. 

Courtesy of BPSOS archives, Washington D.C area // 2016. Note: We have censored the address in the letter for privacy reasons.

Vanh Hai, August 19, 1991
(Vietnam)

Dear elder brother,

Some lines to you as my greetings. Wishing you much healthy and lucky. 

How about your resettlement? The family has not received your letters for a long time. Our family has now encountered many troubles. Our father is imprisoned so far. Please be much cautious, do not send to home address anymore. Communist police arrested Dad more than a month ago and do not release him yet. It is because you are now holding any high position there (in the camp) that they arrested Dad for investigation. How pitiful it was! Dad had illness but has to suffer their tortures. They said that our family has hidden your personal background. The local police does want you will repatriate and if so, they will put you in jail to death. 

Receiving this letter, you should write to aunt Cuc's address, she will send your letters over to us. It is because that your family book and your house were confiscated right after you escaped (1989). Our parents had to set up a shelter connected with your house's sided-roof for living in. And your wife and children were deported to the NEZ NHIEU GIANG two years ago. 

Dad is still in prison and is not released yet. We are now feeling much sorrowful because because the family consists only of our mother and me. You should pay much caution. 

Please write to this address: 

Wishing you a good health. May I stop here.

Your youngest sister,
Nguyen Thi Trung Tuyen. 

---

As to whether or not he ever received this letter, we do not know. However, we do know that their father was arrested and put into a re-education camp because of the older brother's previous status or activity, and that the brother is now a wanted man in Vietnam. 

Also, we find out that his wife and children were deported to an NEZ. NEZ stands for New Economic Zones, designated areas where many were relocated, often forcefully so, in order to ease urban congestion and increase agricultural output after the war. However, NEZs were often areas that were very rural and undeveloped, and very poor; being sent to an NEZ was often akin to being sent to exile (1)(2). "Between 1976 and 1990, 3.7 million people were forcibly resettled in "New Economic Zones" in the Central Highlands and the Mekong River Delta and forced to work on collectivized farms. Some suffered from starvation and extreme poverty. The conditions were so bad there that Vietnam faced a famine in 1986. This was a major reason for the economic reforms started in that year" (1). 

The details in this letter underscore the risk involved not only in fleeing, but also in staying. 

---

(1): http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Vietnam/sub5_9a/entry-3369.html
(2): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Economic_Zones_program

#fromthearchives: Vu Manh Tuan

This particular letter, written by Vu Manh Tuan, is originally part of a series. However, we only have the second letter translated into English. We did attach the rest Mr. Vu's letters at the end of the post in case there are some who are interested in seeing or reading the accompanying letters. 

When going through these boxes of archives, we mainly see documents and letters regarding petitions, reasons for asylum, and other perspective on the Vietnam War.  Rarely do we see further descriptions of what life is like inside the refugee camps, where so many were just trying to survive and wait for a chance to be sponsored to America, Europe, Australia, or elsewhere. Therefore, we found this letter of Mr. Vu to be very interesting. He has written to his family overseas, and he is now waiting to hear back about his petition for asylum. In these letters, he talks about his life in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, and it appears that he spent some of his free time making art and teaching art to his peers. 

Furthermore, we also attached the photos right after the letter's translation. It appears that there may have been more but we have three currently. 

December 1, 1991
Shalin (Refugee Camp)

Dear respected (Brother and Sister),

Today I take advantage of (the opportunity) to write you a letter wishing you and all overseas Vietnamese good health.

The other day I received your translation (of my petition) mailed to my family. I answer back to you immediately. In that translation there was only one error - the year of the matter when I had beaten a public security officer – May 15th, 1988. It was not 1989, because on the 14th of June 1988 my family had left Vietnam already.

And recently, I have learned that Mr. Thang had visited Hong Kong.

As for my family, the kids are all right. I still have the task of distributing food rations in the camp, and when free, I stay home to sculpt from aluminum and plastic. Although circumstances in the camp are not favorable to sculpture, I still try day and night. And I am teaching 6-7 roommates who like art. Recently I was able to finish four (sculpted) paintings (ASPIRATIONS; RED DEMONS; CRUSHING THE COMMUNIST REGIME and PLEASE TELL (THE WORLD) ABOUT OUR BURNING DESIRE FOR FREEDOM). All these pictures I gave to Mr. Binh at Camp 1, for him to mail them out. And now I am working on two additional paintings THE WAY OF HO CHI MINH and THE OCTOPUS, and I will complete both of these paintings in just a few more days. I could have completed all these a long time ago, but in this prison I do not have the conditions to find aluminum. Recently I was able to buy a few pieces of aluminum, (sister)! And enclosed please find a picture of my daughter Vu Anh My, and a picture of myself and Mr. Ngo Anh Giao, for you to remember us by. In closing, I respectfully wish you both, together with all our overseas Vietnamese, good health and happiness.  

Looking forward to receiving your reply, and yours always,

Vu Manh Tuan  

Credit: BPSOS Archives . The man in the photo, possibly Vu Manh Tuan, etching the shape of Vietnam onto a metal plate.

Credit: BPSOS Archives. Two men holding their freedom posters.

Credit: BPSOS Credit. Possibly Vu Manh Tuan and his roommates from Camp 1 as mentioned in the letter.

---

As mentioned earlier in the post we have attached all of Vu Manh Tuan's letters below, including the translated one. This way, one can see the series holistically as well. 

#fromthearchives: Huynh Van Thanh

These following documents detail Huynh Van Thanh's efforts to appeal the decision to reject his claim for refugee status. Previously, Vietnamese who fled Vietnam were automatically given refugee status, but in August 1988, this exception was removed and Vietnamese had to follow the same refugee status process as everyone else where they had to demonstrate fear of persecution as stated in the 1950 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which defines a refugee as:

As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

Mr. Huynh, who received his decision in 1993, fell into this category of Vietnamese and Southeast Asians who now had to essentially prove their need for refugee status. As he was rejected, so too were his wife, son, and stepson. The reason for rejection is listed as:

"THE APPLICANT'S STATEMENT OF THE FACTS DOES NOT SUBSTANTIATE A WELL ROUNDED FEAR OF PERSECUTION OF THE 1950 CONVENTION, BECAUSE THE APPLICANT WAS ABLE TO CONDUCT A TOLERABLE LIFE IN VIETNAM."

In this appeal packet, there is a Letter of Introduction written by an acquaintance, a copy of the official decision, the actual appeal request itself (which is actually in English), and a series of supporting documents (some of which are missing). We can only assume that his original application was less detailed, as he provides an incredible amount of additional information in his appeal. 

---

We are deeply grateful to BPSOS, especially the Youth Program Coordinator, Trung Nguyen, for allowing us to have access to these archives, and to the Vietnamese Studies Students at Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute of University of Wisconsin-Madison (SEASII) for helping us translate some of the documents that didn't come with official translations.

#fromthearchives: Pham Viet Manh

Last year we wrote a post about one of our projects with Boat People, SOS, an organization that does incredible work in the Vietnamese community in the United States and abroad. They gave us the opportunity to go through the many boxes of archived letters and documents from Vietnamese refugees, many of whom are seeking asylum or family reunification. These primary sources are so incredible because they provide us with more clear and nuanced insight into the refugee application process, the appeal process, life in camp, the perception of refugees by local communities, the details of the journey to the refugee camp,  and more. 

We are excited to begin sharing with you some of the documents and their respective translations, the first of which can be found below, in our new collection, #fromthearchives. Again, we are deeply grateful to BPSOS, especially the Youth Program Coordinator, Trung Nguyen, for allowing us to have access to these archives, and to the Vietnamese Studies Students at Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute of University of Wisconsin-Madison (SEASII) for helping us translate some of the documents that didn't come with official translations.

---

The following is a letter written on September 4th, 1995 by Phạm Việt Mạnh to various organizations detailing the unjust treatment of the refugees at the Sungei Besi Refugee Camp in Malaysia by the local police force. It also sheds light onto the reality that a refugee's hardship did not necessarily end once he or she arrived at a refugee camp, but more often than not, ushered in a different set of obstacles. It is important to note that at this time, tensions were exceptionally high due to changes in the policy for determination of refugee status coupled with (often forced) repatriation proceedings. 

*Sungei Besi Refugee Camp was located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was established as a transit center in 1982, and officially closed in June of 1996.

To Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thang (Esq.)       

My name is Pham Viet Manh. ME 526028, ID 167246, a Vietnamese boat person living in Sungai Besi camp in Malaysia. Today I’m writing this letter to you because there are a number of legal issues I need your help with. As you also know, in the Sungibesi camp, a non-violent demonstration to demand political asylum broke out on the 23rd of January, 1995, due to the aspirations of all the refugee compatriots in Sungibesi, under the name of “the Unified Council of Asylum-seeking Refugees.” I am also one among the 2705 boat people that signed a petition letter to send to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and responsible authorities for them to consider and resolve our problems. (The petition was sent on the 25th of February, 1995).     

After that and throughout the process of the nonviolent struggle while awaiting a satisfactory response to our petition, at the break of dawn on 5 June, 1995, the  local government brought a special police force called FRU into the camp and attacked us with tear gas, fire trucks spraying water mixed with chemicals, attack dogs and billy clubs. Facing oppression like that, a group of us compatriots along with a group of members of organizations such as the Human Rights Defense Campaign, the Association of Former Government and Military Personnel), and the New Vietnamese Democracy Party, we breached the fence to get onto the highway leading to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, in order to ask Malaysian people to come to our rescue.  On the afternoon of that day, the local government once again used violence to oppress us ruthlessly with billy clubs and tear gas.  During this event, there were hundreds of people that were seriously injured and there were 20 arrested (among those there were people who had gone back inside the camp to go to the hospital for treatment were also arrested), causing confusion

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Missing text<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 

this petition and  hand it over on our behalf.     

Sir, throughout the entirety of this time when we have been awaiting a satisfactory response from the humanitarian organizations and those with the power to resolve our problems, we have always stuck to the principle of fighting for our rights peacefully and without violence. We only sit praying and hunger striking in on location. At 3:30 in the morning on 10 August, 1995, once again the  local government brought in a special police force (FRU), around 4000 well-equipped police members swarmed the camp and beat us with unmatched ferocity, although at the time we were empty-handed and  had no choice but to kneel down and pray – while some were in the process of hunger-striking! This event caused injuries to to hundreds of people including women and children, among those 16 were seriously injured and a number had head trauma.     

After they had used violence to oppress our movement, they herded back to our own separate areas and after that they erected fences of interlacing barbed wire to divide us up into isolated areas. Now we are confined behind rows of barbed wire fences like caged animals. After the initial rows of barbed wire fences were erected, we went on hunger strike to protest the incidents described above involving our brutal oppression at the hands of the High Commissioner and the local government. At the same time we’ve sent a protest letter to the UNHCR, the Malaysian government and the International Red Crescent Society to protest these serious inhumane acts violating human rights at the hands of the Malaysian government.  Sir, above are just a few sketches of the essential details about our situation and the occurrences from the 23rd of January, 1995, until now.     
         
Cynthia Joseph LEO -                   
46 Jalan  1/7 Taman Kinrara             
7 ½ Miles Puchong 58200 .                       
Malaysia      

We are only asking you if you send mail to this address in Malaysia, please don’t put your organization’s name (on the envelope) just put some other normal-sounding address and ask them to hand it to me then I’ll be able to get it. I hope you will sympathize and understand the need for this subtlety.       

In closing, I pray to God to bestow blessings on you. If you need pictures or anything related to this then let us know and we will try to send them to you. We really look forward to receiving your response.         

Respectfully yours,         
From Sungai Besi, 04 September, 1995         
Pham Viet Manh

#fromthearchives: Letters from Vietnamese Boat Refugees

PYD is currently collaborating with Boat People SOS (BPSOS) Youth Coordinator, Trung Nguyen, and Vietnamese Studies Students at Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute of University of Wisconsin-Madison (SEASII) on a summer project to go through a large archive of letters written between the late 1970s and the mid-1990s by Vietnamese Boat Refugees seeking asylum and/or family unification after the Vietnam War. 

At BPSOS there are many boxes like this containing files from individuals seeking asylum and reunification. [Credit goes to BPSOS]

PYD learned about these letters while interviewing Trung Nguyen (which will be posted at a later date). Wanting to know more about these refugees and their narratives, we have decided to use this summer as a chance to review the letters, many of which tell stories of those who were involved in and affected by the Vietnam War. Moreover, the majority of the content includes pleas to countries including the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia for asylum due to political and religious persecution back home. 

While most of the letters were written in Vietnamese, which the SEASII students have graciously volunteered their time to translate, we do have many that are already in English. We will be uploading some of these letters (with the permission of BPSOS) onto our Art Submission gallery!

Each folder generally includes the refugee's application for asylum, a letter personally written by them (detailing their experience during the war, the persecution they had to endure, and their reason(s) for emigrating from Vietnam), a translated version of their letter, and sometimes photographs of themselves and their families. [Credit goes to BPSOS]

Another example of a refugee's application folder. [Credit goes to BPSOS]

We would like to take the opportunity to publicly thank BPSOS, Trung, and the SEASII students for all their help! We are very grateful for this opportunity to be able to read through these letters and get a first-hand glimpse at this trove of primary documents. We believe that these documents can help shed a light on a part of history that has not really been explored in depth yet, as well as provide more information to the research on the Vietnam War. 

Stay tuned for updates on our progress!