bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

A DIMLY-lit hut in Vietnam, a home in California, Whitehead detention centre and a judge's chambers in Admiralty will all have one thing in common today - the occupants will be discussing a Vietnamese orphan at the centre of an international tug of love, enmity and confusion.

  Before he fled Vietnam in 1990, Ngo Van Ha, 16, lived with an uncle and aunt after his parents were killed in a bus crash. The problem is, they don't want him back.

  At the same time, another set of relatives living in California are only too happy to take him but because he is not deemed to be a refugee he first has to return to Vietnam before he can apply to live in the United States.

  The reasons his aunt and uncle give for not wanting Ha are simple. Their tough stance is partly based on economic grounds but they also candidly say that they simply don't like the boy.

  Home for them is Nha Trang, a small, dusty Vietnamese city about 300km north of Ho Chi Minh City.

  Home for Ha for the time being is Whitehead detention centre while he awaits a review of his case by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which is seeking to return him to Vietnam as part of its Family Reunion Programme for unaccompanied minors.

  A judicial review of the case sought by Hong Kong lawyers representing Ha is pending the UNHCR ruling, but whether the go-ahead for such a judicial review will be given or not will be decided in a chambers hearing today.

  Following its guidelines, the UNHCR is seeking to return Ha to live with his closest blood relative, a paternal aunt, who along with her husband took responsibility for the boy and his three siblings after their parents died 10 years ago.

  They are now caring for Ha's younger sister Thu, 14 and younger brother Binh, 15. Ha's older brother, Son, 21, fled Vietnam before Ha and is now being held in a refugee camp in the Philippines.

  The couple also have two children of their own, a son, 13 and a daughter, five.

  In California, Nguyen Dang Vu, the first cousin of Ha's father and Vu's wife, Ho Thi Phouc Tuyet, are appealing to have Ha live with them and their five children.

  The case being made by Ha's attorneys to have him sent to California is compelling. Ha's California uncle, while a more distant blood relative, used to teach Ha while living in the same city in Vietnam before emigrating to the US in 1985.

  Their income, lifestyle and family setting clearly have more to offer Ha than if he were to return to Vietnam.

  In an interview with the South China Morning Post inside their spartan Nha Trang home last week, Ha's paternal aunt, Ngo Thi Thu, 36, and his uncle, Ho Phuoc Hue, 39, made clear their objections to Ha's return. They said they made the same case before a UNHCR representative who visited them the day before.

  They said the UNHCR investigator told them their objections would be of little avail. Ha was certain to be returned soon.

  The Nha Trang couple said they were short of money before taking custody of Ha and his three siblings. Since then life has become even more difficult. The average monthly income for a working individual in Vietnam in US$30.

  The uncle is a technician for the Government-run television station and his wife used to work in a government factory until she was sacked, she claims, because of the trouble caused by Ha's three attempted escapes, the last of which was successful.

  Inside the family's main living area is a row of six old television sets connected to video game players which attract a steady stream of neighbourhood children willing to pay a few cents for the welcome diversion from the streets where homeless beggars are a constant sight. The televisions, they say, are owned by someone else and they take only a small cut in the proceeds for managing the business.

  Ha's younger sister, Thu, who bears large scars on her leg stemming from the crash that killed her parents, is emotionally distant as she shuffles around the room, collecting money from the video game players. She attends a rundown school at the end of the street.

  Ha's younger brother, Binh, quit school and lives not far away with a man who has employed him to work in his stationery store.

  The uncle admits he is a strict disciplinarian and his wife says he has resorted out of frustration to physically punishing Ha and his older brother for misbehaviour. He maintains he will not accept Ha back into the house.

  He says the UNHCR advised him the only other option for Ha was to go into a nearby home for the handicapped, a sad fate given the condition of government institutions for such people.

  But there are other factors to be considered.

  First, said someone close to the case who did not want to be identified, the Family Reunion Programme has been a good one, with approximately 130 unaccompanied children being successfully reunited with relatives in Vietnam. Not all were initially voluntary, but, according to the source, they now have happy conclusions.

  Second, children have in many cases been dispatched by poor Vietnamese families in an attempt to establish a foothold in the US or elsewhere, to serve as an anchor and enable them later to sponsor other family members seeking a better life abroad or to send back money from higher paying jobs.

  Ha's younger brother and sister, when asked if they would go to the States if offered sponsorship by their older brother, were quick to say yes.

  Nordic Assistance to Repatriated Vietnamese (NARV) programme co-ordinator Shlolddoor Sjalvaer said it was not uncommon for families to oppose accepting relatives back into the fold.

  ''Many people say no because they think if the child stays in Hong Kong there might be a chance for re-settlement and that will give them an anchor to leave Vietnam for,'' she said.

  ''We find that with counselling and our assistance programmes we can normally overcome any problems. We do follow up visits and ensure that the welfare of the minor is always under review.'' 



We don't want this boy back