BIG CHANGE IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY MADE REFUGEE FUTURES BETTER

Inside Book 1-Awake and Rise: The International Geneva Conference on Boat People

For readers interested in, yet not familiar with, refugee issues of the 1970s and '80s, links are provided for some of the information below. 

A Geneva Conference
on Indochina-photo en.wikipedia.com

In the early times of World War II, President Roosevelt called for a meeting in Evian, France, to focus on refugee plight. However, the U. S. sent an unofficial representative, unlike other governments. Engagement or isolation remained two opposing principles of United States foreign policy.

Evacuations during Saigon, South Vietnam's chaos of 1975, as North Vietnam troops advanced toward Saigon and the U.S. embassy, were not the end as some hoped. A sea of refugee numbers swelled, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher proposed the Geneva Conference on Boat People for two days in July 1979.  

Unlike the Evian Conference in 1938, when Europe was already at war against Hitler, the Geneva conference related to aftershocks of the Vietnam War attracted big actors on the international scene, including the American vice president. A British Parliament afterward praised the meeting's success:

 "In concentrating international attention on the plight of the refugees and on the urgent need to help them and the countries in which they have sought refuge, the conference was humanitarian. But it was widely agreed that the problem could not be solved unless attention was also given to its root causes and that these have been the inhumane policies of Vietnam.
      "The conference resulted in a massive increase in offers of resettlement places, from 125,000 to 260,000, and in new pledges of additional financial support for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' activities amounting to 190 million United States dollars…." (emphasis added; 1979 dollars)

U.S. Vice-President Walter F. Mondale said that the Geneva conference was intended to "turn the heat up" on the crisis of refugee boat people. He led the American delegation and gave an emotional speech, paying attention to the fact that the Geneva conference marked the highest level government delegation ever to attend an international refugee meeting.  In Mondale's view, engagement was and should be the guiding principle of the immediate post-Vietnam War era and into the future. 

"I would have loved to be there," Jim Purcell said. He stayed in Washington, DC, under the rationale that the new U.S. refugee organization was shaky, in early stages, and he wanted to be in place, in case. An official congressional decision and State Department announcement of the new refugee program's 'home,' its capacities and roles, had only recently been made firm. As the conference met, the bureau's launch from Washington's State Department was made official. 

Historically, State had been either uninvolved in running programs or assessed as unsuccessful in their operation. The new bureau for refugees would be a test on many levels, and eyes were on it from the nation's capital, to towns where volunteer citizens lived, and across the international community. 


At home, the State Department and Capitol Hill would need to address urgent budgetary needs on behalf of refugees. The proverbial ball had finally started rolling, and Jim Purcell was to be the point person, watchman on the wall, and planner for the long haul, although he did not yet realize it. 

Well-known appointees would come and go as directors of the program, some seeming to have more commitment than others. As a deputy, manager, and acting director in an unavoidable see-saw fashion between appointees, Jim was made the official director by appointment of Secretary of State George P. Shultz in 1983, four years after the program's launch. 

In early days organizing State's refugee program, one of Jim Purcell's chief interests was the history of U.S. policy and action regarding refugees. The unsuccessful Evian-les-Bain conference seemed, to him, to be a missed opportunity for the U. S. to avoid repeating later. The Geneva Conference on Boat People formally marked a major shift in U. S. foreign and refugee policy.  As one reader has put it, "significant change in American involvement."

AUTHOR ENJOYS REUNION WITH "THE BOSS," FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE P. SHULTZ

JIM PURCELL AND FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE P. SHULTZ

Hope of the Phoenix
The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit 
from the Ashes of Vietnam

"The work of people in this Department has saved countless lives. Your dedication to the refugees of Indochina marks one of the shining moments of the Foreign Service." 

Secretary of State George Shultz spoke those words to State Department officers in a speech, the "Meaning of Vietnam." All gathered in and around State's front entrance hall on April 25, 1985, five days prior to the 10th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. 

Jim met with George P. Shultz in California on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in the Secretary's office at the Hoover Institution, on the Stanford University campus. Jim briefed Mr. Shultz about Hope of the Phoenix, and they reminisced about that crucial era - "the refugee decade."

The two men noted that their meeting about Jim's book coincided almost to the day with the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975, when cries for help for thousands, then millions, of Southeast Asia refugees began. 

As Secretary of State for President Reagan, Mr.Shultz spoke up for refugee haven, aid, and assistance. He spoke before Congress on behalf of humanitarian immigration for Amerasian children. He participated in foreign policy negotiations with governments needing U.S. insistence on changes (e.g., the USSR and Soviet Jews and other religious minorities) as part of negotiations on other vital global interests.   

Refugee issues were an integral part of U.S. foreign policy decisions during three presidential administrations: Ford, Carter, and Reagan, each of whom recognized and acted upon humanitarian elements of foreign policy.      

Hope of the Phoenix: The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam, 1975-1986 brings to life a remarkable slice of U.S. history regarding refugees. The insider's view of the interim and then appointed director of the new Bureau for Refugee Programs, 1979-1986, is full of region-wide accounts.

From Southeast Asia, an array of global crises erupted: the Middle East,USSR (as mentioned), Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America, the Mediterranean, and South Asia. Their plight needed the organization and convincing outreach of the United States.

The State Department and its Refugee Program led the way with its in-house team, foreign embassy teams, other U.S. agencies at home and abroad, the U.S. Congress, the UN and its affected agencies, including the Red Cross, International Red Cross, UNHCR, World Food Program, and many others.

What highly recommends the book is its thorough research: recorded interviews of others on-the-scene, peer reviews from the same, and an array of news and other reports of the time.

Five Books (parts/sections) include chapters according to regions. The fifth and briefest of all the books is being written and is under peer review and comments.

All of this and more Jim and George P. Shultz, whom Jim has considered a mentor since 1970, experienced up close to strategic and tactical decisions and actions. 

Jim appreciated Mr. Shultz's recent encouragement for the book.   

Update

  Beginning with "Awake and Rise"

It was at the U. S. Department of State (State), the summer of 1979, four years after the "Fall of Vietnam," April 30, 1975. 

Top-floor State brass summoned Jim to help with a growing crisis. Urgent appeals from foreign service officers in Southeast Asia told of thousands more former Vietnamese allies--and their families--at risk, barely surviving as refugees. 

Approval to build within State a new U.S. refugee program--almost from the bottom up--had finally come through. Work had to begin at once, or State might lose this critical foreign affairs role to a group of agencies outside State.

Jim faced serious career and personal challenges when the summons came. He did not want more problems to deal with; yet, there must have been a reason why he listened to the needs that day. 

Learning about the enormous project they wanted him to take on--to design and build this new program-- Jim's mind formed one question:

"If  I take on this role that rumor calls a 'career wrecker,' will State keep its word to back me up for what I'll need to make such a program work?"

*****

 Motivation to write this book

What do you do when you say 'yes' to a tough job that affects your country's and your life's history?

In 1969, 10 years before State's top-floor summons, Jim had been present at a White House press conference (Ron Zeigler, press secretary) when reporters' question focused on him, a "lowly budget analyst," amid rumors of  Nixon's "secret plan to end the war in Vietnam";  

...a decade later Americans woke up to reports of post-Vietnam refugees and Cambodian "killing fields" survivors and drowning 'boat people.' 

No one could have guessed that these crises were prologue in the global refugee decade. 

Old White House Press Room 

From the internet: "Until 1969, the Press Corps Offices space was occupied by the White House Gymnasium and Flower Shop. Prior to that, ...a room in the northwest corner of the West Wing."

In those days, members of the press were eager to scoop any sign of Richard Nixon's "secret plan" to end the war in Vietnam. 

Jim's role in preparing a military supplemental led the press to question him about its significance as a signal of the war's end. 




Disclosure: Jim Purcell, my husband, has encouraged my interest in creating and posting on JNP Book blog. 



I am thankful for people that have offered their enthusiasm and input to his efforts.

  

Book Updates and the Nightwriter's Cottage

Book Update: The full manuscript of Jim Purcell's book, The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam (subtitle), is finished.  One of my favorite chapters includes "The Things We Tell Ourselves about Our Lives"--a personal background piece about what helped shape the author for the humanitarian challenges he faced; how does a 41-year-old husband, father, and civil servant build a team and change part of the powerful foreign service environment of the U.S. State Department?

A book proposal will be available soon for experienced book agents interested in possible representation to interested publishers; a recent lunch meeting in Washington, DC, the starting point of the story, marked another step forward.  

  Author at Nightwriter's Cottage

Jean Purcell, blogger

November 2014  Jim Purcell stayed for a week at Phyllis Theroux's Nightwriter's Cottage in Ashland, Virginia, just north of Richmond; he worked days and evenings on the final chapters of his manuscript, four books (major sections) of approximately 600 double-spaced pages for the full iteration of that time. I was there as companion and to do internet searches and to read some of his copy. 

When Jim and I first got to Ashland, we met Phyllis and her husband, Ragan Phillips; we talked briefly about the Work, what I now call "the massive manuscript." Before we parted that afternoon, a date had been set for a soiree where Jim would talk before a group about his opus. 

We enjoyed the varied group at the discussion evening; we sensed that their experience had influenced a range of political and personal opinions among them. It seemed that Jim's topic evoked interest from a broad range. I thought that the questions gave a brilliant test run for an author and his story; Jim shared some of his knowledge at the center of a revived American engagement with the world post-Vietnam, and he related some of his professional and personal conclusions, as requested.  

What can happen to an author in one week away from the familiar town, schedules, and ringing phones? More than expected, that's sure, based on our week at Nightwriter's cottage a three-hour drive from home.

About the writer's cottage: Author Phyllis Theroux has been closely affiliated with Politics and Prose bookstore and coffeehouse for many years of her writing life. In the Washington, DC, area, where she once lived, P&P is a popular bookstore where authors speak and take questions...sort of like the night her husband planned for Jim to talk about his book. I think a mutual interest in politics and public policy opened the door for a great evening. 

    

What started this adventure: I read a Washington Post article by Ron Charles in September 2014 and made a quick application for an October date. A printable reservation form is on the cottage website. I also emailed Ron Charles a thank you for his article. I continue to like the Post more than other leading newspapers due to its close proximity to where we live and to columnists like Ron Charles and other regulars of different views.      

We welcome readers of this blog to sign up using one of the options on this blog; readers can access updates moving forward.  

 

About Jim Purcell's Forthcoming Book 2015

"To the front press row I said in a low voice, “Believe me, folks, if the President and national security adviser have a secret plan, they wouldn’t use me to unveil it.  I just work here.” From Harbinger, Chapter 1, Hope of the Phoenix

James N Purcell, Jr. is Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Association for International Migration (USAIM). He is a member of the board of the Council for a Community of Democracies (CCD). His forthcoming book (2015), subtitled "The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam," is the history of the U. S. Refugee Program (RP), 1979 to 1986, the author's personal narrative.

The U.S. Department of State tasked Jim Purcell with setting up the new Bureau for Refugee Programs (now Population, Refugees, and Migration) in 1979. President Reagan appointed Mr. Purcell as Assistant Secretary of State for the Refugee Program in 1983, where Mr. Purcell served until 1986, as the longest-serving director for the Refugee Program.

Through the State Department's Refugee Program, the U.S. put into place protocols and policies relied upon today around the world.

The early U.S. post-Vietnam refugee efforts involved U. S. Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan; U. S. congressional committees and subcommittees, U. S. communities and churches, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), helping governments, and international organizations, among them: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and others.

The U. S. Refugee Program team worked to strengthen American responses to humanitarian crises around the world.

___________________________________________

Book Subtitle The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam - 1979 to 1986 -by James N. Purcell, Jr., former Assistant Secretary of State, U. S. State Department, Bureau for Refugee Programs; former Director General, International Organization for Migration


The Distinguished Honor Award from Secretary of State George P. Shultz

The Senior Executive Service Meritorious Executive Award from President Ronald R. Reagan

Forthcoming Book Genres: Refugees, Humanitarian crises, Policy, Government, International

Copyright (c) 2014 James N. Purcell, Jr. All rights reserved.