Good afternoon, everyone. As Max has said, my name is Hoi Trinh. I am an Australian lawyer of Vietnamese origin and I've been working in the Philippines since 1997.
I basically just want to brief you on what's been going on over the last year. When we appeared at this same committee last year, we had 2,000 people left. At the time I did inform the committee that the U.S. government was processing cases. I also informed the committee that we expected about 500 people would be left behind. As a result, the committee passed a motion recommending that Canada accept those 500 Vietnamese refugees. Fortunately, the U.S. took more than that; they took 1,600 people. Fortunately, Norway also jumped in and recognized those people as refugees. That's why we have only 188 people left.
In front of you there should be a booklet entitled Stateless Vietnamese Refugees in the Philippines. I ask you to please go to page 22 in part 4, which relates to Canada. That's a letter from the former Minister Volpe writing to the Honourable Bill Siksay, who is here today, stating among other things three points that I want to mention to the committee.
The fourth paragraph says, “Our mission in Manila has confirmed that the Australians did not accept the Viet-Phi as refugees but rather as members of a special category.” What I can say is that is plainly legally wrong.
In parts 5, 6, and 7 you will see evidence from Australia, the U.S., and Norway saying that Australia did accept people as refugees. Then it goes further. It says in terms of the Norwegian program, “participants need relatives in Norway...and will not be considered as refugees.” That is also wrong.
The third part states that “The American representative indicated that their policy is defined as a resettlement program and that they accept the applicants as refugees under a modified definition.” Well, they accept people as refugees, period.
I want to inform you that I don't understand why there was such an assertion from the former minister. However, I urge you to please recognize the 188 people left as refugees, as other countries have done. What I hope is that Mai Nguyen will be able to give you a Canadian perspective on what being stateless means, and why these people should be considered as refugees and in need of protection by Canada.
The last point I want to raise is that among the 188 people left in the Philippines is Phuong Nguyen, the father of the two young children who are sitting behind me here. The boy has never seen his father. His father is still stranded in the Philippines, and he wants to say a couple of words if you could let him.