Refugee Vietnamese

About 40 Vietnamese boat people and their families are seeking multi-million-dollar compensation for wrongful detention.

The group were witnesses to the Sek Kong detention centre blaze which killed 24 people, half of whom children, in February 1991.

Although they had volunteered for repatriation they were kept in Hong Kong for up to two years so they could give evidence in the murder and rioting trial of 13 detainees.

But the boat people claim the Government was wrong to keep them locked up pending the trial.

If successful, lawyers estimate damages could run to at least $4 million on the basis of $1,000 per day.

The mammoth trial ended in November 1994 and the boat people called as witnessed have now returned to Vietnam.