F E AT U R E 專 題 故 事
A SAFE HAVEN 安全避風港
When thousands fled the war in Vietnam four decades ago, Macao’s refugee camps proved that resettlement can be humane. 40年前，數以千計的越南人為逃避戰亂而來到澳門，並在當地的難民營安頓下來。 他們的故事印證了即使身在難民營，人們也能獲得人道對待。
Words 文 Samuel Miller and Rafelle Allego
O
n a reclaimed tract of land southeast of Macao’s Cotai Strip, the remains of the former Ka Ho Refugee Camp are slowly being erased, lost to time’s inevitable march. The camp’s defunct administrative building in Coloane still stands, but the space now hosts the Centro de Formação Juvenil Dom Bosco youth education centre. Meanwhile, in central Macao, there are echoes of the former Catholic Relief Services headquarters, which played a pivotal role under the stewardship of the late Father Lancelote Rodrigues – who was affectionately known as ‘The Priest of Refugees’ – in the complex resettlement of thousands of Vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s. But evidence of this period, when the region offered vital protection for people fleeing war and persecution, is slowly disappearing; both sites’ days are numbered, and whatever bricks and mortar remain will soon be repurposed or razed to the ground. There are no plaques or memorials, and the selfless work of those who supported and resettled refugees in Macao has largely gone uncelebrated. Paul Pun, secretary general of Caritas Macau and president of the Association for the Relief of Refugees, senses a missed opportunity. Pun, who worked at a Macao refugee camp called Ilha Verde, says the territory’s progressive and humanitarian approach deserves to be commemorated through historical markers or a museum. “We have all the documents and photographs here [at the Caritas office]. What happened at Ka Ho was remarkable and we should teach others about the role we all played in helping refugees.”
A REGION IN TURMOIL Macao’s post-war relationship with refugees began in 1949 following the ascent of Mao Zedong’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Within a decade, the CCP had implemented sweeping land reforms and a dramatic overhaul of the country’s economic and cultural systems, beginning with the Great Leap Forward in 1958. 96
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日的九澳難民營坐落在 現今澳門路氹金光大道 東南面，這個曾用於安 置越南難民的地點，在時間的沖蝕 下已逐漸杳無蹤影，而位於路環的 難民營行政大樓雖已停止運作， 但建築仍保存完好，現已改建為舉 辦教育活動的九澳鮑思高青年村。 當年設於澳門半島的前天 主教救助服務會總部，在人稱 「難民之父」的莫慶恩神父領導 下，亦曾在收容難民的過程中擔當 了重要角色，於 1970 年代末庇護了 數以千計的越南難民。 不過，這段歷史的印記正隨著時 間逐漸消失；上述兩個地點已時日 無多，剩下的一磚一瓦將很快被變 更用途或夷為平地。人們找不到關 於這段歷史的牌匾或紀念碑，許多 曾在澳門支援和安置難民的人都沒 有得到應有的讚許。 澳門明愛總幹事兼澳門難民 福利會會長潘志明曾在澳門的 青洲難民營工作，他認為，澳 門以進步而人性化的方式對待難 民，值得透過歷史標誌或紀念 館等方式予以肯定。「明愛辦公 室保存了所有相關文件和圖片。 九澳難民營是一個了不起的成就， 應該讓別人知道我們在幫助難民當 中所扮演的角色。」他說。
