http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/current/politics/stories/vietnam.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Vietnamese refugees should not be forced to return to Vietnam if they had any connection with the United States, two House members urged Friday in a letter to President Clinton.
``Vietnam is still a dangerous place for people who left because of a genuine fear of political and/or religious persecution,'' Republican Reps. Christopher Smith of New Jersey and Ben Gilman of New York wrote Clinton.
Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong and other Asian countries of first asylum are being repatriated in conjunction with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The program gets financial support from the United States, which recently established diplomatic relations with Hanoi.
``U.S. tax dollars should not support any program that involves the forced repatriation of persons who fought on the side of the United States or were otherwise closely identified with the United States war effort, victims of religious persecution or other persons who are refugees under U.S. law,'' Smith and Gilman said.
Gilman is chairman of the House International Relations committee and Smith is a subcommittee chairman.
Gilman and Smith said Vietnamese refugees should be rescreened and reinterviewed in refugee camps before any are forced to return to Vietnam.