Progress Report #3

CUBAN REFUGEES:

Kerri Iha

From December 1965 to 1973, “Freedom Flights,” sponsored by both the Johnson and Nixon administrations, flew refugees from Varadero Beach to Miami. This “airlift” of refugees ended up transporting over 250,000 refugees who often had family or relatives waiting for them in America 

Cubans come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.  A 1995 census survey found that 37% of the population identified themselves as European, 11% claimed African heritage, and the remaining 51% were mixed.  Before 1980, nearly all of the Cuban refugees that fled to America were of white heritage from the upper middle class.  These people were either a part of the corrupt authoritarian Bautista government, (US supported), or educated professionals (bankers, lawyers, government workers, etc). 

On April 20^th, 1980, Fidel Castro opened a Cuban port and told socialist non-believers to get out of the country.  This event would forever be known as the Mariel Boatlift.  Nearly 125,000 Cubans fled via boat within the 5 months the port was open.  It was later found that 25% of these Cubans had criminal records or were released from mental hospitals.  These refugees were mostly sent to Cuban refugee camps and some spending time in US prisons until they were eventually deported back to Cuba.  50% of the 125,000 ended up staying in Miami.

Does Race Matter among Cuban Immigrants? An Analysis of the Racial Characteristics of Recent Cuban Immigrants

Benigno E. Aguirre and Eduardo Bonilla Silva

Journal of Latin American Studies , Vol. 34, No. 2 (May, 2002), pp. 311-324

Race, Wages, and Assimilation among Cuban Immigrants

Madeline Zavodny

Population Research and Policy Review , Vol. 22, No. 3 (Jun., 2003), pp. 201-219

John Hindman

Wet foot - Dry foot policy: An amendment to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, put in place in 1995. Any cuban refugee that's intercepted by the coast guard in the water will be deported back to Cuba unless they provide evidence they will be persecuted upon return. If a cuban manages to reach U.S. land however, they will be placed on the fast track to becoming a U.S. citizen.

Fidel Castro has used mass migration of cuban citizens to the U.S. as a threat when disputing the trade embargo.

The Cuban Adjustment Act was put in place following the mass migration of over 150,000 cubans to Florida.

Self-segregated communities have formed in Florida due to the influx of migrants. 

Many of the refugees come from middle-class backgrounds.

VIETNAMESE REFUGEES:

HyunSueng Lee

            In the Vietnamese’ history, they had many wars such as Vietnam War, World War II, and Civil War. So, they have had refugees until now. The biggest refugee was Vietnamese boat people that from 1965 to 1975, they had Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, many people died and lost their house. Most of boat people fled to Hong Kong, Northern part of China, or other nearest country. However, Hon Kong and Indo rejected that they came to their counties, so that more than 1 million people were sent to prison, and estimated 160,000 people died. Just 65,000 people lived in other countries. After end of War, China, Japan, South Korea, and other EU countries tried to intervene the Vietnamese government.

            Why they occurred Vietnam refugees, and how they treated during the wars, also how boat people survived on the sea or other lands. Actually, Vietnam is not a developed country, so they haven’t had an organized government and systematic systems. Another reason is that they had historical huge war for a long time, so that during the war, they separated unities such as little people live in small town without any contact and network of emergency contacts. After American lost the Vietnam War, boat people who escaped from war went to sea or other countries. According to “Archives of Vietnamese Boat People” it said that most people tried to escape to south part of land such as Laos, Cambodia, and Taiwan. However, people who escaped to the ocean, they were attacked by pirates or became slavers “In1989 a boatload of 84 refugees were attacked by pirates. The women and children were transferred to the boats and never heard of again. The men were kept in the gold and brought up on by on to be clubbed to death.”  Moreover, some people were died by hunger on the sea.

            In my opinion, Vietnam boat people lost a lot of their human rights by war, death, hunger, and so on, and other people who survived in other countries don’t have their own

freedom until now because they work hardly with very low pay. Also, in the Korea News, I have read about Vietnam women are selling to Asian countries such as comfort women, marry with other countries men, work in overseas, or sex slaves. Nowadays, the international laws have prohibit this problems, so that if other people think about their lives, and try to help them, all of us live with painless lives.

Inhyuk Hue

In 1974, South Vietnam supported by U.S was defeated by Communist North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh, and as a result, over one hundred thousand Vietnamese escaped from their sea surrounded home land by boat. In 1979, Sino-Vietnamese War occurred with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Many ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam, who felt that the government's policies directly targeted them, also became "boat people."

For various reasons, people have been fleeing from Vietnam. The escape was never easy. Often times, several dozen of people got on a small boat, and there were many things to worry about. During the escape, many women and children were raped. Additionally, since they moved covertly at night, it was difficult to elude pirates, and the fact that refugees sold everything they had and carried gold, attracted Thaipirates. To protect boat people, UNHCR set up refugee camps in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippine, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. At the end, the lucky ones would be rescued by freighters and taken to Hong Kong where “port of first asylum policy” was adopted in 1979. Others landed on Southeast Asian countries such as Philippine, Korea, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia. Unlucky ones would continue their journey for half a year suffering from pirates, hunger, and hopelessness.
            Since they were deserted by their own government, they had to find place to live outside Vietnam. Many boat people were captured and detained in refugee camp and deported back to Vietnam. Those deported people were sent to “re-education camps” where thousands were tortured and abused and let go back to the society. But until today, they have to periodically report to police office and report their recent activities.
            As part of Vietnamese economy transforms policy, when boat people comes back to Vietnam, the government promised not to ask anything. It is attracting Vietnamese living in foreign country and is invigorate the country’s economy.
            Boat people were victim of political unrest in Vietnam. Fleeing of people from Vietnam was not solely their fault. This turmoil was result of cold war and clash of ideology. Neighboring countries as well as U.S, China and other countries should take responsibility and actively seek solutions to solve this international humanitarian crisis.

NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES:

Sung Hoon Chung

I have been researching about why North Korean escapes their country in the first place. And how they escape from the country or what route they use to escape.

First, one of the main reasons that they escape their country is financial poverty because North Korea does not have many resources except capital city PyungYang. Therefore, people cannot get food to feed their family. As North Korea is socialism state, they need to work for country to earn money or food but even though they work for country, they did not have resources to reward their citizen (worker).  Despite harsh surveillance and control, people will escape if they are not stratified necessities of life.

Second, they escape country to seek their freedom because North Korean citizen must do what labor party or country ordered. If they disobeyed the order, they can be buried from the society. This means that they never do what they want to do and no one has human rights in their life. However, after they work at different association from another country, they get to know about freedom, democracy, and human rights. Therefore, they decide to escape from capitalism to seek their freedom in face of danger.

As I mention why people try to escape from North Korea, the next step we need to focus is what is the route they use to escape even though china does not accept North Korean refugee and how they can be treated when they get caught. North Korean refugees usually cross Amnok River to go china and go to Thailand because they need to go South Korea embassy to report them. See the picture bottom.

·      http://kin.naver.com/qna/detail.nhn?d1id=6&dirId=60602&docId=131845799&qb=7YOI67aB6rK966Gc&enc=utf8&section=kin&rank=1&search_sort=0&spq=0&pid=RcUgKF5Y7usssts6MdZssc--501976&sid=UHXS2XKNdVAAAEPkE@Y

·      http://www.toxjals.com/

Tae Rim Eun

I have focused on finding the possible solutions to the problems the North Korean refugees are facing and how this problem is being handled internationally.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have accepted the fact that people who fled from North Korea to be recognized as refugees.  However the Chinese government is still resisting accepting them as refugees and is considering North Korean refugees as people who fled just for economic reasons.  One of the possible solutions to save the North Korean refugees from being violated their human rights and also reduce the number forced to go back to North Korea is building a refugee camp, where they can safely be sent to South Korea or any other countries they wish for.  Since China is unwilling to help the North Korean Refugees, in 2005 the South Korean government and Mongolian government agreed upon building a refugee camp in Mongolia.  However in November 2006, the Mongolian prime minister denied the existence of building such camp probably because of their relations with North Korea and China. The best solution to secure the lives of North Korean refugees is for China to accept their status as refugees which is hard to expect considering their relations with North Korea.  The next best solution would probably be building a refugee camp in other countries around China.  This refugee camp will help North Korean refugees to first solve their basic needs and give them time to choose nations that they would be willing to live in.  There are over 20,000 North Koreans who have successfully came to live in South Korea, but there are also many European nations along with United States that accept the North Koreans to their countries.  There are currently about 100 North Koreans who were granted the refugee status to live in United States.

BURMESE REFUGEES:

Kaitlyn Barker

One of the most interesting resources that I have found is “Human Rights Abuses and Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS: The Experiences of Burmese Women in Thailand.”  This article connects human rights directly to health problems and demonstrates that these health problems frequently occur in situations involving refugees.  This article explains how over one million Burmese refugees have fled to Thailand and suggests that they undergo numerous abuses to human rights  by employers, immigration, and the government.  It shows how they are more likely to experience health problems such as AIDS, giving the reader a unique insight into the connection between refugees and health issues.  I find this article fascinating, because it not only involved my action campaign group, but also the AIDS one.  I’m considering asking them to discuss this issue further with me. 

            One of my other favorite resources that I have found is this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ZAi7hiE3A.  It shows that while the refugees are glad to be out of their previous circumstances, they are still having difficulties.  This specific video focuses on a refugee camp in Thailand.  One of the main problems is the lack of food.  This video connects to the resource shown above in that it demonstrates current problems involving refugees and health.

            While I have found a few other resources, they are not nearly as rich as the two above.  I hope to broaden my research in order to find more resources rich with insight and information.  I hope to find a news article next, for I have not found a decent one yet.