Tears as families ordered to forsake new life for camps
MOTHER Ly Hue My collapsed against a courtroom wall and wept silently when she learned that she and her family had once again lost their freedom.
Ms Ly's three sons, aged two, four and six, played tag nearby, unaware that they were about to be locked up. This month the older boys began attending a normal school for the first time in their lives.
Their father has found work at the new airport site.
Since a High Court decision released three Vietnamese families in January, all have found homes in Pillar Point and work in the construction industry.
But yesterday the Government ordered the families to pack their things and return to the camp where they had lived as prisoners.
'We are very disappointed,' said Phung Hoan, 59. 'We are the real victims here. We have got jobs. We are normal citizens. I wish the media could ask our fellow Chinese to help us. The Government can't endlessly detain us.' Mr Phung and his family arrived in Hong Kong on a packed boat in August 1989. They spent the next four years in Tai A Chau detention centre.
Mr Phung said that although life was harsh in the camps his family had never had any desire to return to Vietnam. He hoped to someday move to Taiwan or America with his wife and their three teenage children.
Solicitor Peter Barnes said all three families had found work soon after their release. As Cantonese speakers, they were able to integrate into their new community.
'They have shown the locals they have nothing to fear from Vietnamese living in the community and now the Government has chosen to redetain them,' Mr Barnes said.
Pillar Point is an open camp where boat people can pay rent and live as tenants.
'They're saving the Government money because they're paying their way while they're here,' Mr Barnes said.
