Upper: Members of the Meditation Association voice their support outside the Whitehead Camp.

Lower: The Whitehead refugees shouting slogans inside the camp.

<Chen Post> April 30, 1994

Refugees On Whitehead And Man Yee Camp Protest Against Repatriation

Announce To Hold Ten Thousand
People Group Suicide Today

The Authority Has Deployed Sufficient
Hands To Handle Emergencies

[Special report] The boat people in Whitehead and Man Yee camps threatened to launch a "ten thousand people group suicide" today protesting against the forced repatriation, and to commemorate the 19th commemoration of the fall of South Au Lac into Communist hands. The Police and the Correctional Services Department have intensified their alert, and have deployed sufficient forces in the camps to handle emergencies.
More than a thousand religious persons concerned about the Au Lac boat people gathered yesterday outside the Whitehead and Man Yee camps respectively, appealing to the refugees to refrain from taking group suicidal actions protesting against the forced repatriation. During this period, refugees in the camps participated in sit-in and hunger strike. In addition to that, seventy spiritual practitioners presented thousands of signatures to the Governor's Office, protesting the repatriation of Au Lac boat people with violence.
Yesterday morning, thirty boat people were on hunger strike in the Whitehead Camp. At about 10:00 a.m. there was a demonstration by six to seven hundred refugees. At Man Yee Camp, there were four hundred fifty refugees on hunger strike, more than a thousand joined the demonstration.
Thousands practitioners of the International Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Associations from over twenty countries sat outside the Central Government Office two days ago. They went yesterday to the Whitehead Camp in Shatin, displaying outside the camp banners saying "We Pray For The Freedom Of The Refugees!", "20th Century Is An Era Of Humanity and Civilization!", "The World Will Remember The Bloody Assault On April 7 In Hong Kong!", and "Think about your family! Don't commit suicide!" etc. They kept singing holy hymns, Au Lac songs and shouting slogans. Some people were emotionally moved to tears. There were also practitioners who sat on the ground meditating and praying with closed eyes. Inside the camp, refugees called and responded to the practitioners across the fence.
Using a loudspeaker the Supreme Master Ching Hai told the refugees that She greatly supported their action of fighting for their freedom, but they must treasure their lives, and must not take radical actions. She raised highly and showed the refugees a poster written: "There Is Hope As Long As You Are Alive!" In the meantime, some representatives requested permission to enter the camp and talk directly to the refugees, but were refused by the authorities.
Police Superintendent Li Jing Rui of Ma On Shan Division said that refusing admission of the representatives was the decision of the Correctional Services Department. He believed they didn't want to invoke too much reaction from the refugees in the camp, and wanted to avoid emotional upheavals.
Li Jing Rui said: Although the refugees have threatened to commit suicide to protest repatriation, there were no radical actions by the refugees so far because the forced repatriation has not yet been launched. A spokesperson of the Meditation Association commented that the Government had used unjustified violence in the Whitehead Camp relocation operation early this month, inhumanely inflicting hundreds of refugees. The Association heard that some refugees might commit suicide, self incineration, hanging, or starving today, the 19th commemoration of the fall of Saigon, protesting against the forced repatriation policy. They wish the refugees would treasure their lives, and not commit suicide.

Using loudspeakers,
the Meditation Association supports boat people fighting for freedom,
and persuades them
to treasure life,
refrain from taking
radical actions

These practitioners stayed at the Whitehead Camp until noon, and then left. More than seventy of them went to the Governor's Office to submit thousands of signed letters by people from all nations "objecting forced repatriation of the Au Lac refugees." Afterwards, they proceeded to the High Island (Man Yee) Refugee Detention Center joining the protest action of other members. Similarly, they also displayed banners and posters, called out slogans and sang. They also used speakers to talk to the refugees inside the camp, asking them to restrain from taking any radical actions.
At the same time, the Chinese World Associations in Au Lac, Cambodia and Laos issued a grave statement yesterday, objecting the forced repatriation of Au Lac refugees by the Hong Kong Government. They wished the Hong Kong Government would respect their human rights, and support their ideal of seeking freedom. This statement emphasized that the Associations are very concerned about the Au Lac refugees in Hong Kong who are recently on hunger strikes because they are going to be forcibly repatriated. They have tried reflecting the refugees' longing for freedom through different channels, and have repeatedly proposed to many nations to help the refugees come to live in a democratic and free third country. However, they were disappointed. The chief secretary of the Association Mr. Li Shao Quang, Vice Secretary Laing Yong Tai, Mo Yuan Cheng announced at a press conference held in Los Angeles yesterday, that they would resort to practical actions. Lead by the Vice Secretary, more than one hundred fifty Au Lacese, Cambodian and Laotian communities around the world, and in various communities in the United States would launch a full scale protest against the violent repatriation of the Au Lac refugees. The protest letters will be sent to the Hong Kong Governor, the United States Government and the British Government, appealing to all nations to respect the wish of the Au Lac refugees in gaining freedom.