Germany/Vietnam: Information on a Vietnamese refugee group in Germany called the To Chuc Sinh Hoat Nguoi Viet Ty Nan Tai Cong Hoa Lien Bang Duc, including its mandate, membership, activities and treatment by the Vietnamese authorities (2002 to August 2004)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 31 August 2004 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ZZZ42907.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Germany/Vietnam: Information on a Vietnamese refugee group in Germany called the To Chuc Sinh Hoat Nguoi Viet Ty Nan Tai Cong Hoa Lien Bang Duc, including its mandate, membership, activities and treatment by the Vietnamese authorities (2002 to August 2004) , 31 August 2004, ZZZ42907.E , available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/42df61d029.html [accessed 28 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on the To Chuc Sinh Hoat Nguoi Viet Ty Nan Tai Cong Hoa Lien Bang Duc (Organisation für die Angelegenheiten der Vietnam-Flüchtlinge in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V. – OAVD e.V./Organisation for the Affairs of Vietnamese Refugees Resident in the Federal Republic of Germany OAVD e.V.) is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
In an open letter dated 29 January 2003 sent to several politicians and groups, including the German chancellor, the president of the German Parliament, the press, the German Red Cross and Amnesty International, Pham Cong Hoang, the national leader of OAVD e.V., called on the German government to stop the deportation of Vietnamese refugees to Vietnam. Hoang wrote that the 4,000 Vietnamese who would be repatriated would face an uncertain fate if returned to Vietnam (OAVD e.V. 29 Jan. 2003).
In another open letter dated 2 April 2003, Hoang asked Claudia Roth, a federal government representative for human rights and humanitarian assistance, to support his group's public actions denouncing violations of human rights in Vietnam and to meet with his group prior to a protest taking place in Berlin on 26 April 2003 (OAVD e.V. 2 Apr. 2003). In the letter, Hoang listed some of the activities undertaken by the group to raise public awareness of human rights violations in Vietnam: peaceful protest, letters to the Vietnamese government, petitions to governments, the European Union, and other politicians, meetings with human rights groups, prayer ceremonies and hunger strikes (ibid.).
Another undated open letter written by Pham Cong Hoang and another OAVD e.V. leader, Hoang Cong Chu, calls on the German people to participate in a committee to erect a monument of appreciation for Germany's assistance to Vietnamese refugees since the surrender of South Vietnam in 1975 (n.d.).
While not specifically mentioning the OAVD e.V. in its report, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) based in Frankfurt reported on 29 September 2003 that some failed Vietnamese refugees in Germany were being "blackmailed" by officials of Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security in Germany for information on political activities of Vietnamese citizens in Germany. According to the ISHR report, Vietnamese officials were also taking bribes by failed Vietnamese asylum-seekers in exchange for the assistance of these officials in extending the stay of these refugees in Germany (ISHR 29 Sept. 2003). The ISHR stated that the Vietnamese officials had been conducting these "forced interviews" since 2001 on "'sovereign territory of the Vietnamese Republic'," but on German premises (ibid.). The ISHR "criticise[d] the German authorities for co-operating" with the Vietnamese government in the holding of the interviews (ibid.). Additional information on the use of failed refugee claimants by the Vietnamese government in Germany could not be found among the sources consulted.
Migration News, a Website of the University of California at Davis, reported that Germany and Vietnam signed an agreement in January 1995 mandating the German government to annually pay the Vietnamese government DM 100 million for accepting repatriated Vietnamese citizens from Germany (n.d.). The agreement does not exclude the German government's removal of Vietnamese citizens from its territory (Migration News n.d.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
International Society for Human Rights (ISHR). 29 September 2003. "Asylum Seekers Blackmailed."
Migration News [Davis, Calif.]. n.d. "Vietnamese Refugees to Be Repatriated."
To Chuc Sinh Hoat Nguoi Viet Ty Nan Tai Cong Hoa Lien Bang Duc (OAVD e.V.). 2 April 2003. "Betr.: Andauernde Menschenrechtsverletzungen in Vietnam."
_____. 29 January 2003. "Petition: Mit der Bitte um Abschiebungsstop für die vietnamesischen Asylbewerber."
_____. n.d. "Offener Brief: Projekt Bau eines Denkmals von den Vietnam-Flüchtlingen als Dankessymbol gegenüber dem Komitee CAP ANAMUR, dem deutschen Volk, den Regierungen der Bundesländer und der Bundesregierung."
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sources, including: Amnesty International, Dialog, Human Rights Watch, U.S. Committee for Refugees, US Department of State.
