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Ruth Mathewson

UNITED Nations officers are launching a search which may lead them to cancel the repatriation of a 16-year-old Vietnamese orphan and send him to the United States instead.

  The inquiry in north Vietnam this week follows a report to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) involving the relatives of Whitehead camp detainee Ngo Van Ha.

  UNHCR head of mission in Hong Kong Jahanshah Assadi said his agents in Ho Chi Minh City would travel to Ha's hometown in search of his younger brother and sister, reported to have been thrown out of their uncle's home.

  Ha's repatriation was on hold until the UN could verify and consider information gathered by the boy's lawyers, Pam Baker and Rodney Pritchard, Mr Assadi said.

  A critical factor is understood to be the UNHCR's general policy of reuniting unaccompanied minors with their closest blood relatives.

  A source said Ha's closest blood relatives were two paternal aunts in Vietnam, but his most intimate family relationship was with the Los Angeles couple he knows as ''uncle'' and ''aunt''.

  ''It's generally the policy to reunite [unaccompanied minors] with their closest blood relatives and if possible, with their cultural roots, where they have family friends and so on,'' Mr Assadi said.

  ''The degree of relationship back home [in Vietnam] is a lot closer than in the United States, but we have to look at all the factors.

  ''Relationships are important, but they're not the only factor.''   A source close to the family said Ha's uncle in California, former school teacher Nguyen Dang Vu, was the first cousin of Ha's late father.

  Mr Vu and his wife, Ho Thi Phouc Tuyet, lived next door to Ha in Phu Yen province, north Vietnam, before emigrating to the United States in 1985.

  They have been trying to bring Ha to live with them in California for three years.

  ''Mr Vu lived next door to Ha in Vietnam and he actually taught Ha,'' the source said.

  ''He was Ha's first teacher of maths, English and so on.

  ''He is a blood relative. He's not as close a blood relative as the woman [Ha's aunt] in Vietnam, but he knows Ha better.''   The source, close to the family, said Ha's young brother Binh, 15, appeared to have left the uncle's home and returned to his native Phu Yen province two years ago.

  Ha's sister Thu, 13, appeared to be living with various neighbours in the vicinity of the uncle's home.

  ''She sells bread on the streets for the neighbours,'' the family friend said.

  ''We don't know whether she goes to school or not.''   Mr Justice Rhind granted a stay of execution on Ha's repatriation order in the High Court last week and granted Ms Baker and Mr Pritchard leave to challenge the decision in a judicial review.

  The judicial review is pending while the UNHCR weighs up whether it will uphold the original repatriation order or send Ha to Los Angeles.



Orphan's future hinging on outcome of search for siblings in Vietnam