They had reached safe harbor on a sail and a prayer. In the past 21 months alone, more than 40,000 Vietnamese boat people pitched their way across the South China Sea to Hong Kong, mostly in rickety, open vessels. Last week 51 of them -- eight men, 17 women and 26 children -- learned they had risked their lives for nothing. Awakened at 3 a.m. at the Phoenix House refugee detention center in Kowloon, they were asked to gather their belongings, then herded into trucks by government personnel, some equipped with batons and shields. From there they were taken to Kai...
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