THE ESCAPEES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79R00603A002900110013-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2002
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 2, 1977
• Content Type: OUTLINE

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2 August 1977
1. The Escapees
A. Trends from 1975 to date
-- National origin
-- Means of escape
-- Intermediate sanctuary
-- Desired destination
-- Social class/parole criteria
B. The Future
-- Prospects for improved internal security in the
Indochina states
-- Factors affecting motivation
2. Legal Emigration
A. Present status
B. The Future
-- \N emigres in the US circa 1980
- As a domestic political force
- As a magnet for immigration
3. 1977-1981: Escapees and Legal Emigration
A. Increase/decrease
B. Number meeting present parole conditions.
State Dept. review completed
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SECRET
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July 29, 1977
TO "a ITS /CJD Mr. Saunders
FROti: McManaway
roc ue~ for Inte.Ili ence Commu:nis " :ir ate
at Ire oc iineae Refugee ou?t~.~cw
A Presidential dis: ective of mid-Jiily est.
Interagency Task Force on Indochinese rtc:i'ugce-=. The
principnl focus of the Task Force is long ter4 }.. n--
,:..~
ning liar reuettlezr,ent in the US and ztbresad of
chineee refugacs beyond the 15,000 that the At y
General may 00On parole into the cour:tx,r.
For this long term. planning, the Task Fore wc-;:1f:t
app7:42ciato the Intelligence Community .r-
rr~cmtrandum estimi z Ling the refugee outflow f ror. 3 r.F
china from July 1, 1977 through Decclnbe:: 31,
As a base from which to begin, the accepted . Y ~.
n ~co~~; arsrtly scientific figures. for tan Fire` _ . Ob
.t--
..zaiiy
i ;a '77 are as fc~.:7.c~rat 500 a month, vi.rt
hc r
^ ,'ssC
:1a'~::,t~Fc, who ~..t~ttC,. on Asian shores after c,, -'- , x ~. t ?~a
homeland by boat and 1200 to 1500 a , x. it+4,
r d
+1:3o from Cambodia, who cwc -s F~-.1
from Labs bu -. ~.
land borders into Thailand.
The m,_1s}; Force hopes that the mcmorandu:n woxa _~
eacplOr: L the approximate number of refugees c~ ' . ~:rc
each country and the estimated quantitrict} a ,r -;: them
of tho.a who, meet our current criteria fc>~ 1=
~ eve r `:
c? oe,c rclatlvcr in the US 3 former U .S.
eir p1Oyees i and those identified closely ,,F{ tt:
gr?ms and policies in Indochina, who trit?r
trained in the united State, or whcse pcrs~:=t
accomplishments or eminence would benefit
society.
The study would be most useful if it crul.cl be .~:_: pl ted
bcforc. ugust 15.
E:1.: T Jayne-3 : grad
7/291/77 Ext. 21311.
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 THE SECRETARY OFF SS~~gqTTEE
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WASHINGTON
,z ). 3,9-L) -7 7
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In amplification of my letter of July 16 requesting
that you exercise the authority conferred by Section 212(d)(5)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act to admit 15,000
Indochinese refugees into the United States, I would like to
underscore certain aspects of the dilemma faced by ever
greater numbers of these refugees in the tragic aftermath
of the wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The questions
raised in your July 19 letter and by your staff will I
trust be thereby satisfactorily answered.
Although over 145,000 Indochinese refugees have been
paroled into the U.S. since April 1975, and more than 45,000
have been given permanent asylum in other countries, the
refugee population in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast
and East Asia continues to grow. Despite the danger of
encountering security forces attempting to control land
borders and shorelines, each month between 1,200 and 1,500
people escape into Thailand from Laos and Cambodia
and approximately 500 Vietnamese make their way to
countries on the littoral of the South China Sea, hazarding
the high seas in small craft designed for coastal waters.
The reception given these refugees is deliberately fashioned
to discourage them, since for economic and political reasons
neither Thailand nor any other nation in Asia is willing
to harbor them permanently. The bleak prospect they have
of even gaining temporary asylum, however, has not staunched
the flow from the region and persecution by the new regimes
of Indochina; and the deplorable conditions which the refugees
who successfully escape must endure in camps or on beaches
if they are even allowed ashore has not discouraged others
from attempting to join them.
The Honorable
Griffin Bell,
Attorney General,
Department of Justice.
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There are now 82,000 refugees in Thailand - 80,000#
crowded into 15 inland camps'
amps and another 2,000 or more
in two sites along the coast where those boat case
refugees from Vietnam are aggregated. Over 5,000 other
boat case refugees have temporary safehaven elsewhere
in the area (3,100 are in Malaysia, over 500 in the
Philippines, another 500 in Japan, and lesser numbers in
Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea); and
some boat case refugees, fortunate enough to be rescued
at sea from their own sinking craft, are carried great
distances before reaching a hospitable port (108 are now
on a ship off Madras, India, after being refused at
Singapore; 15 are on a ship bound for South Africa; 7
have been permitted to land in Kuwait until other arrange-
ments for them can be made).
This total of 87,000 contrasts with the 80,000 of more
than a year ago when the U.S. parole program for 11,000 was
inaugurated. As our program progressed, France continued
its admission of approximately 1,000 a month, a rate
sustained from May 1975 to the present. Clearly, earlier
speculation that during 1977 the number of refugees
would stabilize, and perhaps even decline with the help
of permanent resettlement countries, (France especially,
and the United States through the conditional entry of a
limited number of boat cases) was not justified. Events ---
especially the efforts of the new authorities to remake
the societies of Indochina and punish old opponents --
have overriden hopes and estimates alike.. The boat case
refugees are the most obvious evidence of how inadequate
were our own projections in this matter. Thus, we now
have an emergent situation which, as I said last month
to the President in my recommendation requesting parole,
requires immediate action.
As you know, my proposal for the parole of 15,000
recommends that priority be given to the boat case refugees.
Their desperate circumstances -- and the fate of any future
refugees who may be denied even a temporary landing if the
present refugees with first asylum are not moved-onward to
permanent resettlement -- call for a positive response.
(Attached is a very recent cable from Malaysia which
illustrates, in paragraphs 3, 4, and 5, the terrible urgency
of the situation.) This administration has placed
humanitarian considerations in the forefront of its concerns,
and thus I believe the national interest will be well served
by our generous acceptance of those boat case refugees who
have no other resettlement prospects.
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The non-boat case refugees in Thailand (67,000 Lao
and Hmong from Laos; 11,000 Cambodians; 1,300 Vietnamese)
have made less obviously dramatic but 'not always less
perilous escapes to the camps where they now have, a bleak,
tightly circumscribed life. Last year's parole enabled
several thousand to reach the United States, based on their
having close relatives already here (Category I), having
been employed by the United States Government in their
homelands (Category II), or having been by their positions
in the civil administration or armed forces of the former
governments closely associated with the U.S. missions,
personnel, and programs in Indochina (Category III).
Those refugees were targets of especial enmity by the new
rulers, and at the same time were less likely to be
welcome in temporary asylum or offered permanent resettle-
ment by other countries, who viewed them as linked to the
United States. Our 1976 program relieved the situation --
but unfortunately only temporarily.
In the last months of 1976 and through the first half
of this year new refugees who meet the same criteria as did
those of the earlier program have made their way to Thailand.
According to the latest estimates of our Embassy in Bangkok,
there are now just over 8,000 confined to the in-land camps
who appear to qualify under the terms of the 1976 parole.
Their ethnic breakdown under the three categories is as
follows (numbers include accompanying family members):
CAT I.
CAT II
CAT III
TOTAL
Lao
500
1,500
2,000
4,000
Hmong
1,000
400
1,600
3,000
Cambodian
200
50
500 -
750
Vietnamese
125
100
200
425
Thai Dam
50
50
75
175
Total
1,875
2,100
4,375
8,350
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Naturally statistical details change frequently, as
new refugees arrive and some-depart for third countrieL.
Each applicant will have to be examined to determine his
eligibility under parole criteria. The screening process
would be arduous and require the expertise of experienced
INS officers to achieve the goals of selecting those who
are properly qualified and uncover fraudulent claimants
to our help.
I believe that those who meet the criteria very much
need our assistance. The U.S. involvement in Indochina
from 1954 until 1975 was so pervasive and protracted that
many of the officials and citizens of the three countries
developed especially close relationships with Americans
and our national objectives in Indochina. With the
collapse of the former governments, that association
stigmatized them. Having been identified with policies
and practices characterized as both hostile and foreign,
those people have suffered especially harsh reprisals for
sharing goals and endeavors with us. Seen in that light,
the refugees of the proposed categories have a strong
claim to our concern.
Sympathy, even coupled with financial contributions
for their care and maintenance, is not, in my view, an
adequate manisfestation of that concern. We can both
acknowledge the association of the past and give hope to
people now dispirited and desperate by admitting them to a
new life here. Normal immigration, even conditional entry,
does not offer any relief in the critical short term
because of numerical limitations and statutory restrictions.
An early solution to the plight of the refugees is needed.
Thailand is heavily burdened by the growing numbers, and its
present practice of providing asylum is threatened by the
magnitude of the problem. It is our policy to encourage
acceptance of refugees from tyranny, and to ease the situation
in Thailand will shore up the Thai government's current
practice, as well as give an example to the world of a humane
response to this very serious refugee situation.
The regeneration of almost the same dimensions in the
Indochinese refugee problem this year as existed last year
makes it unwise to advocate that the proposed parole will
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solve the problem or even permit us to back off thereafter
from deep involvement in the subject. What the possibie
elements of a long term solution might be will be explored
by an interagency task force which the President has directed
the Department of State to chair. The first meeting of the
group is being held July 22. As the task force examines
options and undertakes actions here and abroad aimed at
alleviating the Indochinese refugee problem, I will be in
close-touch with you so we can keep Congress informed.
As the task force begins its look at the problem, the
requirement to initiate short-term measures becomes more
pressing. I assured the President that a strenuous
diplomatic effort would be undertaken to elicit a greater
international commitment to assisting the refugees by giving,
as appropriate, first asylum, permanent resettlement, and
financial aid to the UNHCR. This effort will be much more
promising if the United States can begin a parole in the
near future, both to benefit those refugees admitted here
and to provide exemplary leadership to others.
To enable the parole to be implemented as soon as
possible following a favorable decision on your part, the
Department's Coordinator of Human Rights and Humanitarian
Affairs, Patt Derian, and the staff of the Office of
Refugee and Migration Affairs, have already met with the
American Council of Voluntary Agencies (ACVA), whose
member agencies assisted in earlier parole programs for
Indochinese and other refugees. Those agencies are ready
now to search for and verify the qualifications of the
sponsors who will introduce the new arrivals to life in
America. These agencies, long experienced in this social
action field, have assured us unequivocally that within
eight months after parole is authorized, qualified
individuals, church groups, and civic associations will
be matched with refugee families approved for a new parole
of 15,000; some will be the same sponsors who assisted
the refugees' relatives already here. On this basis,
the approved refugees would all be here within a year.
The pace of the parole would be, in these terms, carefully
deliberate'for the ultimate benefit of the refugees'
adjustment and integration.
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e
That measured pace of arrivals, however, should not
be a reflection of the tempo at which selection of
refugees would take place. Priority in movement will
be given to the boat cases, especially in view of the
importance of such movement to the decisions of the
countries of first asylum. Thus the earliest possible
decision on the inauguration of the parole would be
desirable. As I said in my earlier letter to you,
the Department stands ready to assist in consultations
with Congress and other matters at your request.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
Cyrus Vance
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Enclosure:
Kuala Lumpur 4687