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SCMP Reporter

THE head of a Vietnamese anti-communist group who was screened out as a non-refugee in Hong Kong may be allowed to start a new life in Canada.

 In a rare move, Employment and Immigration of Canada has begun a process which could lead to Nguyen Quy Khanh and his family emigrating to Canada.

  The Canadian authority has contacted the Commission for Canada in Hong Kong to look at Mr Nguyen's application under the country's private sponsorship programme.

  The move to consider Mr Nguyen's case throws considerable doubt on the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA), which should contain fair procedures to determine who is, and who is not, a refugee.

  Aid workers have always doubted the fairness of the CPA, which is implemented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The decision by Canada, one of the parties to the multilateral CPA, could bring fresh embarrassment to the UNHCR.

  Some aid workers have argued the UNHCR's main concern was to get everyone back to Vietnam, and the screening process could be too strict.

  Jahanshah Assadi, the chief of mission, has until now refused to review the case of Mr Nguyen, the president of the group, and 38 others who are all founding members of the Lien Minh Chong Cong (United Anti-Communist Group).

  He only promised to study their files.

  The members have insisted their membership in an organisation opposed to the Hanoi government was exposed to Vietnamese authorities in error by the US postal service.

  But the UNHCR has rejected their appeal for refugee status. Two members were forcibly repatriated to Vietnam earlier this year, one gagged and bound throughout the flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi.

  Doky Hien, of the Vietnamese Refugee Sponsorship Committee of the National Capital Region, Canada, said the decision would mean Mr Nguyen's case would be looked at in a ''more fair'' and a ''more Canadian style of working'', rather than what ''the peoplein Hong Kong have been subjected to''.

  Mr Doky said he believed the next step was for the Canadian officials in Hong Kong to interview Mr Nguyen and his family before deciding whether they should be allowed into Canada.

  ''I don't think it is automatic [for Mr Nguyen to leave for Canada] . . . [But] it will be more just and more fair interviewing and reviewing of the case.''   He said the sponsorship committee, a non-profit-making organisation registered with the Canadian Government, decided to sponsor Mr Nguyen and his family because they saw the case was genuine.

  ''Mr Nguyen has a past of fighting for freedom; for trying to get more freedom for himself and his people. That carried through when he came to Hong Kong,'' Mr Doky said.

  Mr Nguyen, after founding the anti-communist group in the Whitehead camp, sent a letter to the California-based New Vietnam Democracy Movement and Provisional Vietnam Government, enclosing a list of members' names and detailing their activities in an attempt to get the group affiliated.

  The group received the letter back three months later, after the US postal service failed to find the street of the receiver, and posted it on to Vietnam.

  Mr Doky said the fact that the case had been referred to the Commission for Canada in Hong Kong by Canadian immigration officials proved it was ''a strong case'' and there was ''not a whole lot'' officials could argue about.

  The commission said it was not allowed to comment on any immigration case because of the Canadian privacy legislation.

  Mr Assadi said he would conduct an inquiry into what he described as a ''quite important'' move by the Canadian authorities.

  He said if Canada was going ''outside the CPA'', it would ''not necessarily be that simple an issue''.

  But he refused to elaborate, saying he had still to discuss the matter with the Canadian authorities.

       The lawyer helping the group of 39 said the case showed while Canada did not want to ''torpedo'' the CPA, it was anxious to observe criteria of international law and fair screening.



Canadians offer Viet a lifeline