LETTER FROM W. E. COLBY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01066A001100100024-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 28, 2005
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: September 29, 1975
• Content Type: LETTER

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September 29. 1975
Thank you very much for your recent letter with
its assessment of the refugee resettl t prograt.
With your bagroual, of terse, an assessAmt has
special value because of your past experience in
this field. I have forwarded your commmu to the
appropriate authorities here, where I am sure your
evaluation will be appreciated.
Please accept continued best wishes for your
futAre and my hope that you do find work haft in the
United. States appropriate to your high qualifications.
With 'lost regards .
Sincerely,
/as/ W. , C OID
W. E. Colby
Director
WEC:lm (26 Sept 75)
Distribution:
Orig - Addressee
1 -. DCI
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1 - DDD
1 f.ZU
- DDCI
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L t'S- At5 V, (V, August 1975
REFUGEE PROGI'WA.T-I ASSESSED BY A REFUG yI.
by
The first phase of the refugee program can be considered com-
pleted. In spite of its shortcomings this program as achieved much
in less than 1~ months, startimg last May, with the dedicated coopexa
tion of the military camps in the Pacific islands and continental.
USA, the Indo-China Interagency Task Force, the Voluntary Agencies
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and innumerable private American citizens and the Indo-Chinese
refugees themselves. The following is an assessment of the program
by a refugee who has been in daily contact with tens of thousands of
Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in and out of camps in the USA in
I. R ,FUG PROGRAM'S ~CHIT.V ?i i~.tr'I0
Not all the people anxious to leave Indo-China were evacuated.
The evacuation of 135,000 refugees including mostly Vietnamese with
3,000 Cambodians under extremely confusing conditions represented,
however, a remarkable feat.
1Wlell. Or zanized C= 1 s
There has been very little complaint regarding living conditions
in the refugee cer;-qps in the Pacific islands of Guam and Wake and in
the', four re-fu gee Sites in th'-- continental United States. Shelters
were comfortable, ,.whether it. was the concrete buildings in ;lake Isla d,
the barracks at Fort Chaffee in. Arkansas or the temporary tents and
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quonset huts at Pendleton and other camps. Wherever and whenever it
was cold, enough jackets and blankets were distributed to the refugees
along with mattresses and sheets. The Red Cross and other Voluntary
Agencies and private citizens brought plenty of clothes for everyone and
all the refugees looked well dressed. Sanitation was adequate. Medical
and dental care was available at in-camp clinics.- The more serious cases
were treated in well--equipped hospitals. The- food, though differ-en.t.from
what the refugees had been used to at home, was satisfactory. Three
mealsiiere served each day with more rice, pork and fish than at Ameri-
can usual meals and they were sometimes prepared with the- assistance
of Vietnamese culinary experts. While adults had problems getting z
adapted, the children switched to the new food style in no time.
There were well-organized religious services for Buddhists,
Catholics and Protestants. There were also playschools for children
and there were for adults, English classes, driving lessons,. American
life orientation courses. Film shows, artistic performances, athletic
and other recreational events were often organized with the participation
of Boy Scouts, student associations and other private Groups.
The most often voiced complaint. was that the refugees were strictly
confined to the camps until they were processed out, which did not help
make them feel free nor give them a chance to learn about their new
social environment and look themselves for job opportunities. However,
from a practical point of view, letting the refugees free to move in and
o?.t auTd make it impossible to run such hutge reception centers as Fort
Chaffee or. Camp L endlet,on .with tens of thousands of refugees. Lod'gi_ng and
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food repartition, immigration processing, medical examination, meetings
with voluntary agencies, appointments with sponsors, etc. would be
extremely hard to organize. There would also be refugees melting in the
surrounding landscape without the responsible services being in-any
position to know their whereabouts, goo.d or misfortunes, successes or
failures and needs.
On the other hand, there need be no fears that the refugees
might be tempted to stay indefinitely in.the camps. They are strong-
ly w*k-oriented and are anxious to stand on their own feet and be-
come economically self-supporting. They also realize that they are
late comers and the economy is not booming. They are willing to take
harder ivriith lower pay jobs which are not generally wanted and they are,
ready to go to places which have less. appeal to earlier comers,
adopting as principle that home is whore business is. It is also
generally understood that no matter t4ta well organized camp life may
be materially, it is never pleasant to line up for food and gaze idly
at lonely hills day in and day out and that placement and resettlement
represent the more important part of the refugee program.
The refugee camps in Guam and Wake islands are now practically
empty. Five thousand refugees went to third countries, sometimes as
f ar?-flung as Australia and Norway, SaudiArabia and Senegal, Wrest
Germany ari the Ivory Coast. But it vias mainly to France and
especially Canada which has been running a successful resettlement
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program for refugees with or Without relatives in Canada. The refugee
movements to thi.rd countries, except for Canada, ::ere ably coordinated
and handled through the Intergoverrunental CommitLte,e for European Migra,
tion.
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Another 1,000 refugees are waiting for repatriation to South Viet-
nam to rejoin their families. The rest, about 13,000, have come over
to continental United States. I-lore than 6Q percent of these have been
processed out of the four resettlement sites, Pendleton in California,
E)J-in.in Florida, Fort Chaffee in A.r;{ansas, Indianto rn Gap in Penn-
sylvania. sylvania. It was all achieved through the sponsorship system.
Church groups proved to be the best organized and most efficient
sponsors. They have placed, through their dioces-parishes and other
local chapters, tens of thousands of refugees including large--sized
families with 10 or more members.
Contrary to unjustified criticisms, the church organizations such
as the United States Catholic Conference, the Church ::or].d Service, the
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, etc., are not mating profits
out of the resettlement operation. Local transportation, housing and
food, clothing and furniture, job interviews and other items necessary
for the resettlement of the refugees will far exceed the 500 per capita
allocated by public funds. Private contributions in cash and in kind
within the churches will make up for the difference.
The other voluntary agencies, the international Rescue Committee,
the Tolstoy Foundation) the United. 1IAS Service, _J;ler:ican and for
Czechoslovak ~ efugecs, were no less efficient thiugii handling a more
limited number of cases. -
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The individual sponsors were less successful in carrying out their
responsibilities even through the mediation and coordination of a
voltmtary agency. Most sponsors arc able to provide the refugees with
housing and food for a few days or weeks. Supporting them for longer
periods of time and providing them With jobs, represents a more difficult
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endeavor. On the other hand, contacts between sponsors and refugees
were not always well prepared. More often than not they did not. know
what to expect exactly of one another; consequently, their later
relations were sometimes strained to a breaking point.
The number of resettlement failures is not known with accuracy
nor is it simple to agree on any definition of failure. How' much
money, time and effort should be spent on a case before it could be
so labeled? There will not be two similar answers. However, it is
pow common to talk of breakdown and failure each time a refugee, after
being processed out of camp, goes on social welfare. It is recently
disclosed by California's Social T,Ielfare Services that 41 percent of
the 15,700 Vietnamese refugees now living in the state are receiving
some form of assistance, welfare, MediCal or food stamps and that the
figure is expected to rise to 75 percent. The reading of such percent-
ages could not lead to any conclusion unless there are further and more
detailed data on each type of service received. On the other hand., it
would. be normal to expect that newly resettled refugees, even in rela-
tivcly successful cases, would temporarily need some type of medical
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The resettlement program is gradually closing in on the
classically called hard-core refugees. There are still el out 60,00)
in--carp refugees. They can be roughly divided into three groups of
nearly equal numeric importance: soldiers, fishermen and farmers, small
business peopl and government and private employees of middle and low
ranks. Most of them speak little or no English and have never been
abroad before. They have very large sized families and have practically
nothing but the clothes on their backs.
On the other hand, the number of sponsors is declining. Many in the
previous groups of refugees had relatives and friends in the United States
who acted as their ready sponsors to. help them out of the camps. There
are no more such sponsors, the still'in-camp refugees having no personal.
acquaintances in the United States and relying entirely on the voluntary
agencies for sponsorship. But even this source of sponsors mobilized
by the Voluntary Agencies is drying up, partly because the refugee
novelty has i.,orn off and refugee stories appear less frequently in
ne ;spapers.
Church groups and other Voluntary Agencies are making systematic
efforts to keep the refugee issue alive and mobilize near sponsors within
their ow~nn organizations. Their appeal., no longer catching the newspaper
headlines, has reached out to more diocese, parishes and local chapters
whore many more of the good common American people will get involve:.. in
helping resettle the refugees. The group sponsorship process, after the
present sio?..ring dovm, has therefore good chance of ?ickin up molcontu:Ti aL;=-J_n.
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Individual sponsorship could also become more efficient by adopting
a more direct and. pragmatic approach. Good will and compassion do exist.
However, for the individual sponsorship process to e> pand and play a more
meaningful role, it should, also be based on two-;ray cooperation and
mutual benefit. This has not been the case. There have been, conse-
cuently, misunderstandings and maladjustment.
If the sponsor is at the same time employer, in a position to provide
the refugee with a stable job at the very beginning, that will be the best.
If ti s is not the case, the interim period during which the refugee is
assisted by the sponsor should be considered the transition time of a
temporary job with both sides and also the mediating Voluntary Agency
'Knowing what kind of assistance the refugee could expect from the sponsor
and what kind of- services, including home sertirices, the sponsor could.
in return expect from the refugee. If, during this interim period, in
addition to food and lodging, the refugee receives some pay for his
services, that will represent a valuable assistance and a fair deal,
a real good sponsorship to the satisfaction of both sides.
The trade unions and professional organizations could also work
alongside the Voluntary Agencies and play a significant role.
The iiY'.i.:-\ IO under the leadership of George Meany strongly supported
the cause of the Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. Mr. Geroge iNeany is
also a member of the Advisory Committee to President Ford on Indo-China
refugees. The AFL--CIO with their community services could do much to
help place the refugees according to their professional skills. It would
be desirable to have them open office at the refugee camyDs. They could
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place i arvf refugees, especially in the farms and the fishing industries
with labor shortage.
Some professional groups have organized committees for refugee
relief and resettlement. The journalists and radio and television
correspondents have organized the Correspondents' Committee for Refugee
Relief (CCRR) located at the Cox Newspapers ;ashington Bureau in
>;ashington, D. C. with the participation of many influential news-
papers, rn.gazines, press agencies, radio and television companies.
The CCR has set forth comprehensive tentative programs to act as a job
clearing house, to sponsor university fellowships and training in the
English language and American culture and to start an apprenticeship
program in journalism and related trades. There are about 100 Viet--
namese journalists who are refugees in the United States. The CCRR
could assist them in their professional resettlement, especially place
them with various newspapers and magazines in the Asian nears or editorial
sections where-their experience in Asian affairs could represent a use-
ful contribution.
A most significant program to help nearly 300 Vietnamese and
Cambodian refugee doctors qualify for medical practice in the United
States is being implemented by the Department of Health, :Education and
Welfare with the cooperation of the American Medical Association. N,
Secretary Caspar Weinberger said; "The physicians helped by this program
will be encouraged to practice in underserved areas of the
They will undoubtedly go to those und.erserved areas rrh=ire their services
will he needed. They in turn will be in a po::ition to sponsor other
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Vietnamese and Cambodian medical professionals, dentists, nurses, mid-
wives, etc.
The participation of American professional groups in the refugee
resettlement program could expand and cover other.pro_fessions, each
professional group assisting especially its Vietnamese and Cambodiann
counterparts.
States and cities could also play. a much- greater role. Washington
State has been carrying out an outstanding resettlement program. Its
targets set up first at 500 refugees was later raised to cover 500 more.
The project was not limited to professionals and skilled workers; it
was also extended to the unskilled workers. Instructions were given
to take a cross section of the refugee population. This project which
is still, going on and implies some type of vocational training.is very
popular with the refugees.
If other states and cities participate in the resettlement program
in the same way as Washington State, many more refugees will be satis-
factorily and productively resettled.
The sunny and warm days are drawing to an end. It will soon be
chilly and uncomfortable under the temporary tents open to winds and
rains inin, Pendleton and Indiantow,m Gap. By that time there might
still be too many refugees to be all squeezed into the more comfortable
barracks at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas Building new barracks and setting
up new camps might not be the best solution. Maybe it is time to entrust
the Volun ary A encies, the states and cities greater responsibilities
and have them organize reception centers for groups of 100 or more refugees.
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This will generate more active participation fro-a local churches, businesses
and service groups. On the other hand what could not be applied to big
refugee cesaos with tens of thousands of refugees r, ._ll become feasible-
the refugees will be free to move in and out of smaller reception
centers for contact with the local communities, meetings with would-
be sponsors, job interviews, etc., thereby multiplying manyfold their
contact surface with American society and making their integration
easier and faster.
his has already received a beginning of implementation. Besides
Washington State which took 1,000 refugees to Seattle under its direct
responsibility, Food for the F-mgry organized the 'eimar Hope Village
near Sacramento to receive about 500 refugees and the International
Rescue Committee set up Cameo. House in Los Angeles for a growing
number of refugee families. These initiatives proved to be pragmatic
and successful, worthwhile carrying out on a larger scale.
About 500 Vietnamese air pilots and 10,000 naval soldiers left;
Vietnam with their air and seacrafts and contributed to the success of
the evacuation operation., Most of them are still in camp. They will
be difficult to place having no other professional skills then
their military formation. It is encouraging for them to learn that they
can now enlist in the USA armed forces. Their gration status should
be adjusted accordingly. This single measure would go a long way in
solving the refugee problem.
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III. GROUT .~T,:~ ,TTT,t ENT
After every effort will have been made by Voluntary Agencies,
individual syeonsors, professional groups, states and cities to resettle
the refugees individually, there will still remain in camp a hard-core
of refugees comprising mainly farmers,-fishermen and small- business
-3eolle. This hard-core can be estimated at 30,000. The choice will
then narrow dorm to three alternatives: 1) keeping them in camp
indefinitely ; 2) transferring them to. social welfare with no end -in
sight and 3) organizing group resettlement. The two first alternatives
can hardly be retained as solutions. Some form of group resettlement
will have to be considered. Some sort of Vietnamese communities, Viet-
namese villages will have to be organized, based mainly on farming and
fishing.
Every group of refugees or immigrants tended to cluster together,
at least during the first generation or the first few years. This helped
them maintain their cultural identity and gave them a greater sense of
security. This also led to a well-balanced community where all available
skills could be put to use, thereby achieving full employment for the
refugees within the shortest time and making it possible for the elderly
people to have a normal and useful life while individual resettlement in
a new social environment would make them feel completely u rooted.
On the other hand the farmers and fishermen, sometimes labeled un-
skilled workers, arc highly skilled in their own :-.ays. Their tradil~ional
experience and kno,rledge in farming and fishing which usually have been
u graded and, updated by contact ww:i.th modern tachIiolbLy could be mobilized
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to, the fullest extent for achieving the group resettl ent projects to
the benefit of both the refugees and their host countries.
The Vietnamese fishermen besides being expert in fishing are eflually
experienced in fish breeding, especially "under-raft fish breeding"
which consists in breeding fish in enclosures fitted under a boat so
that the natural flow of the rivers bring in and. out .-,ater and food
and the fish breeder has, only to provide his fish :ith limited additional
food supplies. They also have experience in fish processing, especially
manufacturin of fish sauce.
The Vietnamese farmers are all-rounded farmers with experience in
growing rice, corn, manioc, soya beans, fruit trees and other tropical
f-1U' ,U-t .
Fishermen become self-supporting almost overnight after they are
provided ,,Tith fishing boats and fishing ec,ui_nment. Farmers become self-
supporting after they. harvest their first crops.
To organize a group resettlement, based on farming, the first
problem to solve is land. The average farm size per family ,-Fill be
5 to 10 hectares. The fishermen will receive less, an average of 2
hectares per family to grow secondary crops during, the months they are
not fishing.
The area available for group resettlement will have to be mapped
out and surveyed especially reg ard.ing soil uali.t r, ;-ester resources
and crops ,%jhich could be gown.
T ze inf rasa;ru.c .,.~.r. e, mainly roads and e,1--n_i.n-: to
the land will have to be des3 i.ggned.. It will be simile and kept within
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the limits of financial resources available.
A visit to the area : rill then be scheduled for a fear representatives
selected by the refugees themselves. Upon their acceptance, the re--
settles-rent site ;rill be prepared regarding land clearing, temporary
shelters, drinking water system and sanitation, while the refugees
get organized into groups ready for departure.
Not mentioning the cost of the land, budget provisions will have to
cover the following basic items:
- setting up of the infrastructure opening access
to the resettlement site
- land clearing, temporary shelters, drinking water
and sanitation at the resettlement site
- transportation of the refugees to the resettlement
site
--food support for one year .
- building of housing units, each unit having a
plot for garden
- farming and fishing allowances
- community services including clinic, school and
market place
Many of these items are already included in the organization of
refugee camps with the basic difference. that while the refugees idle
array their time in the camps, they ti;-Ill work and produce at the re-
settlement site, become self-supporting, contribute new economic and
cultural ingredients to the host countx-T into which the-;r will gradually
and smoothly integrate.
Group resettlement is the deep wish of- many Cambodian and Viet-
namese refugees who are still in camp wondering and. worrying about their
uncertain and unknown. future.
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