PREsIDENT: We. the undersigned Members of Congress. are writing to express our outrage at recent reports that Vietnam and Hong Kong have agreed to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese boat people. We urge the administration to oppose this immoral and inhumane policy. The negotiations between the British and Vietnamese have occurred well outside the framework of the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA). the multilateral agreement that. though not perfect. has dealt effectively with the problem of Vietnamese refugees. If Hong Kong is free to pursue its forced repatriation policy. other countries in the region may be tempted to do likewise. putting the entire CPA at risk. And it bothers us that the British. who have been staunch defenders of human rights around the globe. have in this case so cavalierly disregarded the gross human rights violations in Vietnam. As we see it. the problem is not Vietnamese refugees. but a Vietnamese government that is one of the most oppressive in the world. And we reject the argument that most of the boat people are simply economic migrants. As one writer put it. "the term economic migrants. with its odor of moneygrubbing opportunism. is a deliberate slander invented by free people to keep out others desperately seeking that same .reedom." Indeed. in totalitarian societies such as Vietnam. blanket persecution is the norm. which makes us question how it is that only one in ten boat people in Hong Kong is granted formal refugee status. At a time when communism is collapsing the world over. it is a pity that free people would turn their backs on those fleeing oppression. We therefore urge you to convey to the British and Hong Kong governments the administrations strong opposition to the forced repatriation of Vietnamese boat people or any other policy that threatens the viability of the CPA.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization about economic migrants as money-grubbing opportunists.