Yearning to Breathe Free

Soviet and Indochinese refugees arrive in record numbers

The moment the first bewildered faces appeared at the double doors of Kennedy Airport's international arrivals terminal, the cries of recognition burst forth. Bouquets of flowers were crushed as those waiting embraced the new arrivals. "We are so, so happy to be here," a balding man from the Ukraine sobbed, as he hugged the sister he thought he would never see again. He was one of 600 Soviet Jews arriving last week on four flights of refugees let loose by Moscow's easing emigration policy. Said a young engineer from Kiev: "I tried so long to leave and wanted so much to come here. I can't believe it." Said Sofia Mineyeva, a young English teacher also from Kiev: "In the U.S., I expect all my dreams to come true. This is a free country."

In Iowa last week, another group of homeless refugees found sanctuary in a new land. There were not many relatives to greet the 196 Vietnamese "boat people" as their chartered jet from Malaysia landed in Des Moines, but their expressions of joy and hope were much like those of the Soviet Jews. Tran Qui Son, 26, had fled Viet Nam by boat with his wife and two young sons after the Communist regime had forced him to close his appliance repair shop. They floated to Malaysia, where they huddled with 60,000 other refugees awaiting a new home. Said he: "In my country I could no longer care for my family. Here it will be different." The day after he arrived, he was able to find, with the help of his sponsors, a job as an electrician's assistant in Chariton, Iowa.

The worldwide refugee situation is worse than in any period since World War II. There are more than 10 million refugees and displaced persons in various parts of the world. Current U.S. law technically permits 17,400 such refugees to settle annually in America and become citizens after five years of permanent residency. But last fiscal year, using emergency "parole" power, Attorney General Griffin Bell permitted entry of 18,000 Soviet Jews and 25,000 Indochinese. In March he announced another such parole: 25,000 Soviet and Eastern European refugees (mostly Jews) and 35,000 Indochinese will be allowed in by October. Bell is uncomfortable with such an improvised approach to refugee admissions. He strongly supports the Administration's proposed Refugee Act of 1979, sponsored in the Senate by Edward Kennedy, which will raise the normal refugee allotment to 50,000 per year.* It will also give the President authority to handle "emergency" situations of unexpected numbers seeking asylum. Hearings on the bill began last week.

The flow of Soviet Jewish refugees has varied greatly. Fewer than 10,000 were allowed by Moscow to emigrate during the entire period 1961-71. That number soared to more than 30,000 in 1972 and 1973, then dropped sharply, then rose again last summer. This year's total may reach 50,000.

For many years, most of those leaving the Soviet Union went to Israel, but now more than half choose to come to the U.S. The emigrating Jews tend to be city people and often have professional backgrounds. As many as 350 who came to New York last year are professional musicians. Most have relatives in the U.S. They are assisted in their travel and resettlement by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and local Jewish family services.

Generally they do well in the U.S. Maks Gelman and his wife Anna, both 26, are typical examples. They were childhood sweethearts in the Ukraine, graduated from school together, and emigrated three years ago, shortly after Gelman's brother came to the U.S. Both took low-paying jobs and eventually were able to buy a candy store. This year Maks' 96-year-old grandmother joined them, and Anna's family is now in Rome waiting to be allowed in. "I was afraid of freedom at first," Maks says. "Now I am really happy." After the first excitement, some refugees undergo a period of loneliness and separation. But many are eager to shed all reminders of their former home the moment they arrive in America. Said one elderly man from Minsk when addressed in Russian at the Kennedy Airport last week: "Can't you speak Yiddish? Russian I would rather forget."

For the Indochinese refugees the situation is more perilous. Some 900,000 have fled their countries to permanent or temporary asylum elsewhere since 1975, and thousands more have tried and failed. It was reported last week that a boatload of 500 Vietnamese refugees was forcibly towed out of Thailand's waters last month and has not been heard from since. A boat with 2,700 aboard has been moored off Hong Kong for three months, its refugees refused permission to land.

The Hanoi government has reportedly extorted $30 million so far from those who want to be allowed to take their chances on the open seas without their own government trying to stop them: the going rate is more than $2,000 in gold per family. Some 250,000 are now in temporary camps in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and other reluctant host countries. They arrive at a rate of up to 20,000 per month.

Former Iowa Senator Dick Clark, now U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, returned last week from a tour of the Asian camps. Says he: "I think it's going to continue to get worse. More and more people just want out." On his tour he talked to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos about using an island as a large holding area, but that would obviously be only a temporary solution.

France, Australia, Germany, Canada and a few other countries are allowing some of the Indochinese refugees asylum, but about two-thirds of those resettled, 200,000, have come to the U.S. They are screened before admission by U.S. officials and private charities, and preference is given to refugees with relatives in the U.S., those who worked with the American Government in Viet Nam, and those who have been waiting longest.

There has been little problem finding American sponsors for the Indochinese. After seeing a documentary on the plight of the boat people, Governor Robert Ray of Iowa wrote President Carter and said his state wished to add 1,500 more refugees this year to its current Indochinese population of 3,500. Ray offered those arriving last week "a new beginning, an opportunity to build new lives for yourselves and your children," and called on lowans to "remember that our own ancestors were also boat people."

Tran Thanh Khiem, who is only six, was one of the first off the plane in Des Moines. He was very much alone, temporarily separated from his parents on the plane, and missing his name tag. The air was a brisk 45DEG F with gusty winds, but his lip was trembling out of fear. Then he spotted his father, Tran Van Duoc, hurrying toward him. They were bused to an assembly center where they met Larry and Carol Bailey, representatives of their American sponsor--the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Belmond (pop. 2,500)--who would help the Duocs resettle.

On Tuesday Duoc, a former fisherman in Viet Nam, was on Sherm and Maryellen Oberhauser's farm, driving a tractor across the cornfields. Mrs. Oberhauser said their first lunch there went well: "They didn't touch the potatoes, and they looked at the green beans a long time before eating them, but they each had two hamburgers." Donna Knoll, 56, came by with a Vietnamese phrase book to help her new neighbors learn English. Carol Bailey took some of the family out shopping for shoes, and Larry Bailey planned a trip to Fort Dodge to get everybody Social Security numbers. Said Iowa Refugee Service Center Director Colleen Shearer: "Don't people spend their whole lives wanting to show love? This is a rare opportunity. People don't often get a chance to create a microcosm of what the world might be."

* Refugees are not the same as immigrants, 290,000 of whom can enter the country under the normal immigration laws. A refugee is officially defined by the proposed bill as anyone who flees his native country because of persecution or well-founded fear of it.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.