The President of Hmong Society Victoria President Mr Tony Lee said that he was contacted by an organisation in Australia if he could help them interpret for a Hmong Vietnamese family who arrived recently.
‘’I was contacted by Urban Life through Hmong Society Victoria Facebook page if there were Hmong people in Victoria, and they wanted to know if I can help them interpret for this Hmong Vietnamese family because they can't speak English. I said to them, I don't mind helping because this family is also Hmong as me and so I am willing to help them,'' said Mr Lee.
Mr Lee says he accompanied one Australian woman to welcome this family two weeks ago.
“Last Friday (29. Sept2 023) me and one of Australian woman we went to get this Hmong Vietnamese family from Sydney to Melbourne. Now they are residing in Melbourne. I accompanied them to check their residential accommodation that was arranged for them. I don't know them and I am not related in any way with this Hmong Vietnamese family, I just help interpreting for this family when I was contacted.''
The director and Chief Executive Officer of Boat People SOS says we provides legal services and run necessary paper works on behalf of asylum seekers in Bangkok so they are recognised by the UNHCR as genuine refugees.
‘’Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang says we have a legal team in Bangkok to help asylum seekers with their claims with the UNHCR. Without legal system, it is unlikely that they will be recognised as refugees.''
The first Hmong Vietnamese refugee family has arrived in Australia recently (29 September 2023). Ms Jay who does not wish to reveal her true identity said that she is very happy that her family was finally in Australia.
‘’I am so happy that my family are now arrived in Australia. I am grateful and thoughtful for any assistance from officials concerned that welcomed my family to legally resettle in Australia. So today my family is staying in a country I call home, that is why I am so happy now.''
Dr Thang also said that there will be more Hmong families to resettle in Australia.
“We hope that there will be more Hmong families from Thailand to resettle in Australia soon. We have tracked them, and they are being processed for resettlement to different countries. Now about 700 Hmong Christians in Thailand and about half of them have been recognised as refugees and are ready for resettlement.‘’
There are many reasons why Hmong people are leaving Vietnam, Dr Thang explains.
“Mainly because of religious prosecution. They converted to Christianity. Many Hmong converted to Christianity and the government views that as a threat that they are controlled and monopolised power. So they start to crack down on these Hmong Christians. Forcing them to abandon their faith to return to their traditional belief but many Hmong resist that and then they are evicted from their villages they are wandering around for years resettled in highland where they where they are continuously being prosecuted. That is the reason why they have to escape Vietnam.’’
And many other ethnic minorities are also experienced this situation, Dr Thang adds.
“It is not only Hmong but also the Montagnard Christians are also similarly being prosecuted. There are three reasons for that, one is that the government views That the Hmong Ethnic, Montagnard and the Khmer Krom down in the south as potential hackers of national security. Because they cannot control them, they have their own culture, they have their own communities. So it is hard for the government to infiltrate and control them.’’
However Vietnamese authorities refute there was such incident. Vietnam has ratified many of the United Nations treaties including the International Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination. Dr Thang said that this November (2023) UN will look into this matter if Vietnam is complying as Vietnam is also a member state.
‘’By the end of November (2023) the UN committee on elimination of all forms of racial discrimination will have a review on Vietnam because it is a state party to the UN convention. Vietnamese government signed the convention but didn’t comply, we hope that the UN will raise concern of the of the non-comply of the Vietnamese government.’’
Ms Jay the lady from this Vietnamese family would like to leave this message for Hmong communities in Australia.
“I am new in Australia. I have limited education and I haven't got a job that could support my family yet. If one day I would like to ask for a favour, hopefully you will help me.''
Dr Nguyen Dinh Thang the director of Boat People SOS is advocating for more refugees resettlement in Australia.
“We are advocating the Australian government to quickly resettle as many Hmong as possible. The US is doing that, Australia is doing that. New Zealand is also picking up a number of recognised refugees. Canada is also resettled quite a number of them.’’
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