What they leave out is the fact that the same officials who were denying the exit permits to begin with are now in the position to keep people off of those lists. And according to a recent report to Congress. the State Department acknowledges that some 15.000 former United States Government employees and their families have not been issued those exit permits. Besides the administrative roadblocks. pervasive corruption at all levels of the government in Vietnam creates additional obstacles for emigration. Let us say that one is on that list and one moves forward to an interview by the U.S. and the U.S. says. okay. come here. and then one has to get the exit permit. what happens? One of those government officials says. it is going to cost you $2.000 to get this permit. Well. in a country where the annual per capita income is approximately $300 U.S. dollars. most Vietnamese wishing to emigrate cannot afford to pay such an amount. Contrary to the Vietnamese Governments pretense. it is saying that it has no political or religious prisoners. but many Vietnamese continue to languish in prisons because of their political or religious beliefs. Last September I. along with the gentlewoman from California . chaired a human rights caucus briefing on Vietnam.
Keywords matched
emigration emigrate