A Problem to Rival the War

Through miring monsoon rains and along dusty sun-seared roads they file, the wretched refugees from Viet Nam's awful war. Behind them lie their hamlets, shattered by recent battle or terrorized by the Viet Cong. Ahead are crowded refugee camps in their district and provincial capitals. Since May, when the pace of the fighting suddenly increased, the population of the camps has doubled and the total number of refugees has swelled to 600,000. By the end of the year, the figure is expected to rise to 1,000,000--the greatest uprooting of people since the country was cut in two in 1954.

Coping with this vast horde is the duty of South Viet Nam's undermanned, underfinanced Ministry of Social Welfare, backed by a 20-man group of AID officials in the U.S. Operations Mission, and an assortment of private American charity organizations. None is adequate for the task, for the refugee problem has grown so big so fast that it all but rivals the war itself.

Roadblocks. The government has managed to throw up 120 reception centers and camps this year, now operates 190, but can send supplies to many of them only by helicopters, which must pass over V.C. territory. Communication is unreliable, records hopelessly snarled, and Saigon never knows what to expect next. Driven from their homes by everything from full-scale battles to the threat of government bombardment or V.C. reprisal, new waves of refugees are liable to turn up in any province at any time. Indeed, so confused is the situation that the USOM last week dispatched three teams of American specialists on a tour of the camps to count noses.

So far, the heaviest exodus has come from the central highlands, where most of the year's major battles have been fought. More than 100,000 homeless peasants and villagers have flooded Binh Dinh province alone, transforming Qui Nhon, the provincial capital, into the refugee capital of the country. There are now 95 reception centers and camps in Binh Dinh, but only ten trained Vietnamese social service workers to run them. In Danang, when the camps filled to capacity, the authorities had to put up roadblocks to prevent thousands more from streaming in.

Dime a Day. The Viet Cong take advantage of the confusion to infiltrate their own agents into the centers. To head them off, each incoming villager is required to fill out detailed entrance papers and is then interviewed by a panel of refugees from his home area before being granted final admittance. Once inside, he is given rudimentary housing and a mere 10-c- a day to buy food and clothing from local merchants. "It's the best we can do at present. It's just enough for living," says a Vietnamese official.

Food and shelter, of course, are not enough. "Above all," says Colonel Sam Wilson, 41, the onetime Merrill's Marauders officer who is on loan from the Army to head the USOM refugee relief program, "the refugees must be kept busy." They elect their own councils to run the camps. Handicraft programs have begun in some places. If land is available, they are encouraged to plant short-term crops. The government is considering training some of them as social welfare workers. Some may end up as teachers to provide elementary education to other refugees' children.

The New Fishermen. These are short-term measures at best, and wherever possible, the refugees are sent home or to new resettlement villages after two months in the camps. Those willing to resettle are given a piece of land, housing material, a six-month ration of rice and 3,500 piasters ($47) to help them get started. So far this year, 208,000 refugees have left the camps for new homes. One group of farmers even decided to take up fishing, founded its own fishing village on the shore of the South China Sea.

To some Saigon officials, the refugees are little more than a massive nuisance that is siphoning off energy and funds from the war effort. To others, however, they could play a vital role in the outcome of the war. "This war is about people more than about real estate," says one American diplomat. "The side that has the loyalty of the people ought to win it. This is a good opportunity to add a few thousand friends to our side." The U.S. has already allocated $1,000,000 to the refugee camps in stopgap relief, is now considering a major aid program. Most of the work, however, must be done by the Saigon government. "It's no use if we do it," says a USOM officer. "The Vietnamese have to help their own people."

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