In November we published a report by Len Aldis of the Britain Vietnam Friendship Society (BVFS) on the effects of Agent Orange on the people of Vietnam. Signatures were collected and a petition was sent to the US Embassy in London at the end of November, asking for the US administration to compensate the Vietnamese victims. The US embassy has replied refusing to admit liability much less agree to compensation. In addition they have refused to receive the petitions. Instead they have incurred delay by asking BVFS to send the petitions to the Pentagon themselves.

Read the US Embassy's letter.

11 May 2000
On a cold grey day in March 1979 our family arrived in England to start a new life - we arrived in England as refugees from Vietnam. We were known to the world as the *boat people* that had fled a war torn country that was turning communist. We were ethnic Chinese, living in Vietnam at that time, and now, 21 years on, my sister and brother-in- law had invited me back to Vietnam to celebrate the Chinese New Year with them. This was my first time in Asia since 1979 and I jumped at the chance but I had no idea what to expect.

11 May 2001
I was eight months old and oblivious when the world changed for the people of Saigon.

Agent Orange was a chemical used by the Americans during the Vietnam War. To date, the number of victims suffering from the effects of Agent Orange stands at 1 million. It causes illnesses such as Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Spina Bifida. In May 1996, the US administration itself admitted that this substance has caused illnesses and abnormal births. President Clinton has announced that compensation would be paid to American families who have suffered as a result of its use of Agent Orange during the war. However, no offer of compensation has been made to Vietnamese people who suffer from Agent Orange-related illnesses.

In support of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society's (BVFS's) campaign to secure compensation for Vietnamese victims, Dimsum brings you a Vietnam Report by the BVFS.