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Vietnamese boat people () were
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s who fled
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
by boat and ship following the end of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but continued well into the early 1990s. The term is also often used generically to refer to the Vietnamese people who left their country in a mass exodus between 1975 and 1995 (see Indochina refugee crisis). This article uses the term "boat people" to apply only to those who fled Vietnam by sea. The number of boat people leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totaled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. According to author Nghia M. Vo and the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
(UNHCR), between 200,000 and 250,000 boat people died at sea. The boat people's first destinations were
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and the
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n locations of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, and
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
. Tensions stemming from Vietnam's disputes with
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and China in 1978 and 1979 caused an exodus of the majority of the
Hoa people The Hoa people, also known as Vietnamese Chinese (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Người Hoa'', or ) are the citizens and nationals of Vietnam of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia ...
from Vietnam, many of whom fled by boat to China. In 1975, roughly 4 percent of Vietnam's population was of
Hoa people The Hoa people, also known as Vietnamese Chinese (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Người Hoa'', or ) are the citizens and nationals of Vietnam of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia ...
(Chinese Vietnamese). Due to China's support of the anti-Vietnamese
Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...
regime in Cambodia, and perhaps anticipating an attack by China's
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
,
anti-Chinese sentiment Anti-Chinese sentiment (also referred to as Sinophobia) is the fear or dislike of Chinese people or Chinese culture. It is frequently directed at Overseas Chinese, Chinese minorities which live outside Greater China and it involves immigratio ...
spread throughout Vietnam. By 1989, the number of Hoa people in Vietnam was halved, from 1.8 million to 900,000. The legacy of destruction left by the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, combined with policies and repressive actions by the Vietnamese government, economic sanctions, and further conflicts ( Third Indochina War) with neighboring countries caused an international
humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or exter ...
, with Southeast Asian countries increasingly unwilling to accept more boat people. After negotiations and an international conference in 1979, Vietnam agreed to limit the flow of people leaving the country. The Southeast Asian countries agreed to admit the boat people temporarily, and the rest of the world, especially more
developed countries A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...
, agreed to assume most of the costs of caring for the boat people and resettle them in their countries. From
refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...
s in Southeast Asia, the great majority of boat people were resettled in more developed countries. Significant numbers resettled in the United States, Canada, Italy, Australia, France,
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
, and the United Kingdom. Several tens of thousands were repatriated to Vietnam, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Programs and facilities to carry out resettlement included the Orderly Departure Program, the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, and the Comprehensive Plan of Action.


Background

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, with the
fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...
to the
People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...
and the subsequent evacuation of more than 130,000 Vietnamese closely associated with the United States or the former government of
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
. Most of the evacuees were resettled in the United States in Operation New Life and Operation New Arrivals. The U.S. government transported refugees from Vietnam via aircraft and ships to temporarily settle down in
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
before moving them to designated homes in the contiguous United States. Within the same year,
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
forces gained control of
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, thus engendering a steady flow of refugees fleeing all three countries.''State of the World's Refugees, 2000''
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
, pp. 81-84, 87, 92, 97; accessed 8 January 2014
In 1975, President
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
signed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, budgeting roughly 455 million dollars in the effort to provide transportation, healthcare, and accommodations to the 130,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao refugees. After the Saigon evacuation, the number of Vietnamese leaving their country remained relatively small until mid-1978. A number of factors contributed to the refugee crisis, including economic hardship and wars in Vietnam, China, and Cambodia. In addition, up to 300,000 people, especially those associated with the former government and military of South Vietnam, were sent to re-education camps, where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while being forced to perform hard labor. In addition, 1 million people, mostly city dwellers, "volunteered" to live in " New Economic Zones" where they were to survive by reclaiming land and clearing jungle to grow crops. Repression was especially severe on the
Hoa people The Hoa people, also known as Vietnamese Chinese (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Người Hoa'', or ) are the citizens and nationals of Vietnam of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia ...
, the ethnic Chinese population in Vietnam. Due to increasing tensions between Vietnam and China, which ultimately resulted in China's 1979 invasion of Vietnam, the Hoa were seen by the Vietnamese government as a security threat. Hoa people also controlled much of the retail trade in South Vietnam, and the communist government increasingly levied them with taxes, placed restrictions on trade, and confiscated businesses. In May 1978, the Hoa began to leave Vietnam in large numbers for China, initially by land. By the end of 1979, resulting from the Sino-Vietnamese War, 250,000 Hoa had sought refuge in China and many tens of thousands more were among the Vietnamese boat people scattered all over Southeast Asia and in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. The Vietnamese government and its officials profited from the outflow of refugees, especially the often well-to-do Hoa. The price for obtaining exit permits, documentation, and a boat or ship, often derelict, to leave Vietnam was reported to be the equivalent of $3,000 for adults and half that for children. These payments were often made in the form of gold bars. Many poorer Vietnamese left their country secretly without documentation and in flimsy boats, and these were the most vulnerable to pirates and storms while at sea. There were many methods employed by Vietnamese citizens to leave the country. Most were secret and done at night; some involved the bribing of top government officials. Some people bought places in large boats that hold up to several hundred passengers. Others boarded fishing boats (fishing being a common occupation in Vietnam) and left that way. One method used involved middle-class refugees from
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, armed with forged identity documents, traveling approximately to
Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...
by road. On arrival, they would take refuge for up to two days in safe houses while waiting for fishing junks and trawlers to take small groups into international waters. Planning for such a trip took many months and even years. Although these attempts often caused a depletion of resources, people often had false starts before they managed to escape.


Exodus in 1978–1979

Although a few thousand people had fled Vietnam by boat between 1975 and mid-1978, the exodus of the boat people began in September 1978. The vessel ''Southern Cross'' unloaded 1,200 Vietnamese on an uninhabited island belonging to Indonesia. The government of Indonesia was furious at the people being dumped on its shores, but was pacified by the assurances of Western countries that they would resettle the refugees. In October 1978, another ship, the ''Hai Hong'', attempted to land 2,500 refugees in Malaysia. The Malaysians declined to allow them to enter their territory and the ship sat offshore until the refugees were processed for resettlement in third countries. More large ships carrying thousands of refugees began to arrive in Hong Kong territorial waters: the ''Huey Fong'' in December 1978 (3,318 refugees), the '' Skyluck'', disguised as the ''Kylu'', in February 1979 (2,651 refugees), and the ''Seng Cheong'', disguised as the ''Sen On'', in May (1,433 refugees). Their passengers were both ethnic Vietnamese and Hoa who had paid substantial fares for the passage. As these larger ships met resistance to landing their human cargo, many thousands of Vietnamese began to depart Vietnam in small boats, attempting to land surreptitiously on the shores of neighbouring countries. The people in these small boats faced enormous dangers at sea and many thousands of them did not survive the voyage. The countries of the region often "pushed back" the boats when they arrived near their coastline and boat people cast about at sea for weeks or months looking for a place where they could land. Despite the dangers and the resistance of the receiving countries, the number of boat people continued to grow, reaching a high of 54,000 arrivals in the month of June 1979, with a total of 350,000 in refugee camps in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At this point, the countries of Southeast Asia united in declaring that they had "reached the limit of their endurance and decided that they would not accept any new arrivals". The
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
convened an international conference in
Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...
in July 1979, stating that "a grave crisis exists in Southeast Asia for hundreds of thousands of refugees". Illustrating the prominence of the issue, Vice President
Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...
headed the U.S. delegation. The results of the conference were that the Southeast Asian countries agreed to provide temporary asylum to the refugees, Vietnam agreed to promote orderly departures rather than permit boat people to depart, and the Western countries agreed to accelerate resettlement. The Orderly Departure Program enabled Vietnamese, if approved, to depart Vietnam for resettlement in another country without having to become a boat person. As a result of the conference, boat people departures from Vietnam declined to a few thousand per month and resettlements increased from 9,000 per month in early 1979 to 25,000 per month, the majority of the Vietnamese going to the United States, France, Australia, and Canada. The worst of the humanitarian crisis was over, although boat people would continue to leave Vietnam for more than another decade and die at sea or be confined to lengthy stays in refugee camps.''State of the World's Refugees, 2000''
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. pp. 83, 84; accessed 8 January 2014; Thompson, pp. 164–165.


Pirates and other hazards

Boat people had to face storms, diseases, starvation, and elude pirates. The boats were not intended for navigating open waters, and would typically head for busy international shipping lanes some to the east. Additionally, these boats were especially vulnerable due to the lack of weapons to defend themselves as it was difficult to obtain unauthorized weapons in Vietnam at the time. Before 1983 around 20% of boat people were rescued by freighters, but that percentage declined the following years. These lucky ones would reach shore 1–2 weeks after departure. The unlucky ones continued their perilous journey at sea, sometimes lasting a few months long, suffering from hunger, thirst, disease, theft and more attacks before finding safety. A typical story of the hazards faced by the boat people was told in 1982 by a man named Le Phuoc. He left Vietnam with 17 other people in a boat long to attempt the passage across the
Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...
to southern Thailand or Malaysia. Their two outboard motors soon failed and they drifted without power and ran out of food and water. Thai pirates boarded their boat three times during their 17-day voyage, raped the four women on board and killed one, stole all the possessions of the refugees, and abducted one man who was never found. When their boat sank, they were rescued by a Thai fishing boat and ended up in a refugee camp on the coast of Thailand. Another of many stories tell of a boat carrying 75 refugees which were sunk by pirates with one person surviving. The survivors of another boat in which most of the 21 women aboard were abducted by pirates said that at least 50 merchant vessels passed them by and ignored their pleas for help. An Argentine freighter finally picked them up and took them to Thailand. As attacks such as these became common some have linked the rise in piracy with neighboring countries' desire to keep refugees out. The 1979 ASEAN announcement essentially declared there would be no official protections offered by neighboring governments. In this way the known threat of piracy was being used as a tool of state policy. Throughout time, professional pirates operating together replaced lone fishermen in Southeast Asian piracy. Piracy in the Gulf of Thailand swiftly developed into a highly coordinated industry, with multiple fishing vessels encircling and assaulting a refugee craft in coordinated attacks. The
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
(UNHCR) began compiling statistics on piracy in 1981. In that year, 452 boats carrying Vietnamese boat people arrived in Thailand carrying 15,479 refugees; 349 of the boats had been attacked by pirates an average of three times each, while 228 women had been abducted and 881 people were dead or missing. An international anti-piracy campaign known as the Anti-Piracy Arrangement began in June 1982 and was made up of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States with a total funding of £3.6 million. In the first year of the program the number of recorded piracy attacks dropped 67%, and continued to fall until a deadly resurgence of piracy in 1988 and 1989, just before the end of the Hoa exodus. According to author Nghia M. Vo and the UNHCR, between 200,000 and 250,000 boat people died at sea.


Refugee camps

In response to the outpouring of boat people, the neighbouring countries with international assistance set up refugee camps along their shores and on small, isolated islands. As the number of boat people grew to tens of thousands per month in early 1979, their numbers outstripped the ability of local governments, the UN, and humanitarian organizations to provide food, water, housing, and medical care to them. Two of the largest refugee camps were Bidong Island in Malaysia and Galang Refugee Camp in Indonesia. In response to the increasing numbers of refugees pouring in following the results of the Vietnam War the Malaysian island, Pulao Bidong, was transformed in into a refugee camp by the Malaysian government and the Red Crescent Society. Bidong Island was designated as the principal refugee camp in Malaysia in August 1978. The Malaysian government towed any arriving boatloads of refugees to the island. Less than one square mile (260 ha) in area, Bidong was prepared to receive 4,500 refugees, but by June 1979 Bidong had a refugee population of more than 40,000 who had arrived in 453 boats. While Malaysia was crucial in providing help and support to refugees entering their shores, many other countries provided refuge, such as Japan, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and the United States. The UNHCR and a large number of relief and aid organizations assisted the refugees. However, converting a largely uninhabited islands proved to be a challenge to accommodate thousands of boat refugees. The only habitable areas on the island were the beaches, vegetation was plundered for shelter and firewood, and shallow wells were constructed for fresh water.
Sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
in the crowded conditions was the greatest problem. In terms of a functioning sewage system, the camps faced issues where sewage tanks and taps were either stolen or corroded. Traps and pipes filled quickly with waste and were quickly infested with rat populations.Food and drinking water had to be imported by barge. Water was rationed at one gallon per day per person. The food ration was mostly rice and canned meat and vegetables. The refugees constructed crude shelters from boat timbers, plastic sheeting, flattened tin cans, and palm fronds. Organization within respective refugee camps created feelings of apathy between its inhabitants, where it was common that men were given few opportunities to participate in their customary work and instead subjected to menial or unusual work. Conditions between different camps varied, however a common theme felt between the inhabitants were that life in the camps could best be described as “meaningless, pacifying, and time wasting.” The United States and other governments had representatives on the island to interview refugees for resettlement. With the expansion of the numbers to be resettled after the July 1979 Geneva Conference, the population of Bidong slowly declined. The last refugee left in 1991. The Galang Refugee Camp was also on an island that was transformed by work of the Indonesian government, Red Crescent Society, and UNHCR, but with a much larger area than Bidong. Located in Riau Province of Indonesia, the Galang Refugee Camp lies in the center of Pulao Galang, a sixteen-square-kilometer island much bigger than Bidong Island’s one square mile. More than 170,000 Indochinese, the great majority of boat people, were temporary residents at Galang while it served as a refugee camp from 1975 until 1996. After they became well-established, Galang and Bidong and other refugee camps provided education, language and cultural training to boat people who would be resettled abroad. Refugees usually had to live in camps for several months—and sometimes years—before being resettled. In 1980, the Philippine Refugee Processing Center was established on the
Bataan Peninsula Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga, Bataan, Balanga while Mariveles, ...
in the Philippines. The Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC) was initially only able to house 7,000 refugees but then quickly expanded to be able to provide housing for up to 50,000 refugees. While the PRPC could house up to 50,000 people, the camp’s peak population was approximately 17,000 refugees. Initially, the PRPC was formed as a way to alleviate other countries from the issue of crowding that was occurring in different refugee camps due to the sudden surge of refugees. The PRPC would shift its goals from just providing temporary refuge to becoming a training or processing as the number of refugees slowed down. The PRPC would center its teachings on helping the refugees learn and assimilate into the United States when they finish their resettlement process. In 2005, after the resettlement of thousands of refugees from Pulau Bidong and Pulau Galang, a group of former boat refugees returned to commemorate their experiences at the camps. Two memorials were erected in honor of those who had perished during their journey and expressed gratitude towards the assistance they had received from local governments. However, soon after, they were demolished due to controversy between the Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Indonesian governments. The islands had been permanently closed to the public until the turn of the twenty-first century, due to the growth of tourism in Terengganu.


1980s surge and response

Between 1980 and 1986, the outflow of boat people from Vietnam was less than the numbers resettled in other countries. In 1987, the numbers of boat people began to grow again. The destination this time was primarily Hong Kong and Thailand. Concerning the impact on its economy, security and society, the
Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
began to search for solutions. In early 1987, one of the accommodated Vietnamese refugee boats received the assistance of the Immigration Department to depart to continue sailing. It arrived in
Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), only east from the city of Xiamen in Fujian, located at the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China, from wh ...
to apply for asylum but was rejected by the ROC military, then was slaughtered on
Lieyu Lieyu Township (Liehyu) (; pinyin: ''Lièyǔ Xiāng''; Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Lia̍t-sū-hiong'') is a Township (Taiwan), rural township in Kinmen, Kinmen County (Quemoy), Fujian Province, Republic of China, Fujian Province, Taiwan, Republi ...
Island on March 7, known as the Lieyu Massacre. The boat was burnt, evidence destroyed, and the ROC Ministry of National Defense repeatedly denied on the journalists' reportages and the parliament questioning. The
chilling effect In a legal context, a chilling effect is the inhibition or discouragement of the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by the threat of legal sanction. A chilling effect may be caused by legal actions such as the passing of a law, th ...
made the refugee boats extinct on northbound afterwards. On June 15, 1988, after more than 18,000 Vietnamese had arrived that year, Hong Kong authorities announced that all new arrivals would be placed in detention centres and confined until they could be resettled. Boat people were held in prison-like conditions and education and other programs were eliminated. Countries in Southeast Asia were equally negative about accepting newly arriving Vietnamese boat people into their countries. Moreover, both asylum and resettlement countries were doubtful that many of the newer boat people were fleeing political repression and thus merited refugee status. Another international refugee conference in Geneva in June 1989 produced the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) which had the aim of reducing the migration of boat people by requiring that all new arrivals be screened to determine if they were genuine refugees. Those who failed to qualify as refugees would be repatriated, voluntarily or involuntarily, to Vietnam, a process that would take more than a decade. The CPA quickly served to reduce boat people migration. In 1989, about 70,000 Indochinese boat people arrived in five Southeast Asian countries and Hong Kong. By 1992, that number declined to only 41 and the era of the Vietnamese Boat People fleeing their homeland definitively ended. However, resettlement of Vietnamese continued under the Orderly Departure Program, especially of former re-education camp inmates, Amerasian children, and to reunify families.


Resettlement and repatriation

The boat people comprised only part of the Vietnamese resettled abroad from 1975 until the end of the twentieth century. A total of more than 1.2 million Vietnamese were resettled between 1975 and 1997. Of that number more than 700,000 were boat people; the remaining 900,000 were resettled under the Orderly Departure Program or in China or Malaysia. (For complete statistics see Indochina refugee crisis). UNHCR statistics for 1975 to 1997 indicate that 839,228 Vietnamese arrived in UNHCR camps in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. They arrived mostly by boat, although 42,918 of the total arrived by land in Thailand. 749,929 were resettled abroad. 109,322 were repatriated, either voluntarily or involuntarily. The residual caseload of Vietnamese boat people in 1997 was 2,288, of whom 2,069 were in Hong Kong. The four countries resettling most Vietnamese boat people and land arrivals were the United States with 402,382; France with 120,403; Australia with 108,808; and Canada with 100,012.


Vietnamese refugees resettlement

The Orderly Departure Program from 1979 until 1994 helped to resettle refugees in the United States and other Western countries. In this program, refugees were asked to go back to Vietnam and wait for assessment. If they were deemed to be eligible to be resettled in the United States (according to criteria that the US government had established), they would be allowed to emigrate. Humanitarian Program for Former Political Detainees, popularly called Humanitarian Operation or HO due to the "H" subgroup designation within the ODP and trailing numbers 01-09 (e.g., H01-H09, H10, etc.), was set up to benefit former South Vietnamese who were involved in the former regime or worked for the United States. They were to be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. if they had suffered persecution by the communist regime after 1975. Hong Kong adopted the "port of first asylum policy" in July 1979 and received over 100,000 Vietnamese at the peak of migration in the late 1980s. Many refugee camps were set up in its territories. Frequent violent clashes between the boat people and security forces caused public outcry and mounting concerns in the early 1990s since many camps were very close to high-density residential areas. As hundreds of thousands of people were escaping out of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia via land or boat, countries of first arrival in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
were faced with the continuing exodus and the increasing reluctance by third countries to maintain resettlement opportunities for every exile. The countries threatened push-backs of the
asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...
. In this crisis, the Comprehensive Plan of Action For Indochinese Refugees was adopted in June 1989. The cut-off date for refugees was March 14, 1989. Effective from this day, the Indochinese Boat people would no longer automatically be considered as ''
prima facie ''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning "at first sight", or "based on first impression". The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine forms of ' ("first") and ' ("face"), both in the a ...
'' refugees, but only
asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...
and would have to be screened to qualify for
refugee status A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
. Those who were "screened-out" would be sent back to Vietnam and Laos, under an orderly and monitored
repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...
program. The refugees faced prospects of staying years in the camps and ultimate repatriation to Vietnam. They were branded, rightly or wrongly, as economic
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s. By the mid-1990s, the number of refugees fleeing from Vietnam had significantly dwindled. Many refugee camps were shut down. Most of the well educated or those with genuine refugee status had already been accepted by receiving countries. The market reforms of Vietnam, the imminent
handover of Hong Kong The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841. Hong Kong was established as a specia ...
to the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
by Britain scheduled for July 1997, and the financial incentives for voluntary return to Vietnam caused many boat people to return to Vietnam during the 1990s. Most remaining asylum seekers were voluntarily or forcibly repatriated to Vietnam, although a small number (about 2,500) were granted the right of abode by the
Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
in 2002. In 2008, the remaining refugees in the Philippines (around 200) were granted asylum in Canada, Norway, and the United States, marking an end to the history of the boat people from Vietnam.


Memorials

Some monuments and memorials were erected to commemorate the dangers and the people, who died on the journey to escape from Vietnam. Among them are: #
Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Canada (1995): "Refugee Mother and Child" Monument, Preston Street at Somerset. #
Grand-Saconnex Le Grand-Saconnex () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Several international organizations and permanent missions to the United Nations are located in Grand Saconnex. Consequently, the populat ...
, Switzerland (February 2006). #
Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...
, United States (February 2006). #
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
, Belgium (July 2006). #
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany (October 2006). #
Troisdorf Troisdorf () is a city in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis (district), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Troisdorf is located approximately 22 kilometers south of Cologne and 13 kilometers north east of Bonn. Division of the city Troisdorf consi ...
,
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, Germany (May 2007) (tháng 5, 2007) #
Footscray, Victoria Footscray ( ) is an inner-city Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong Loca ...
, Australia (June 2008): Jensen Park Reserve of
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
#
Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine Bagneux () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department, in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography The commune of Bagneux is surrounded by the following communes, from the north and clockwise ...
, France (May 11, 2008). #
Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...
, United States (April 2009), by ViVi Vo Hung Kiet. # Port Landungsbruecken,
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany (September 2009). # Galang Island, Indonesia (demolished) # Bidong Island, Malaysia # Washington, D.C., United States #
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland #
Marne-la-Vallée Marne-la-Vallée () (English language, English: Marne Valley) is a new town located near Paris, France. Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios Park, Val d'Europe, University of Marne la Vallée, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, ESIEE Par ...
, France: Roundabout "Rond Point Saigon"; André Malraux intersection avenue and boulevard des Genets of Bussy-Saint-Georges commune (September 12, 2010)., statue by sculptor Vũ Đình Lâm. #
Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...
, New South Wales, Australia (November 2011) at Saigon Place. Bronze statue, weighing more than three tons by sculptor Terrence Plowright, located in the suburb of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. # Tarempa in Anambas,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. #
Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, Australia (December 2, 2012) by Phillip Piperides. # Perth, Western Australia (November 1, 2013) in Wade Street Park Reserve. 5.5 meter high monument of sculptor Coral Lowry. # Montreal, Quebec, Canada (November 18, 2015) by UniAction. Courage & Inspiration is the commemorative and collective artwork of 14'L x4'H highlighting the 40th anniversary of Vietnamese Boat people refugees in Canada. It has been inaugurated and displayed at the
Montreal City Hall The five-story Montreal City Hall (, ) is the seat of local government in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was designed by architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and built between 1872 and 1878 in the Second Empire (archit ...
, hosted by Frantz Benjamin, City Council President and Thi Be Nguyen, Founder of UniAction, from November 18 to 28, 2015. #
Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer fro ...
,
Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and newest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
(30 April 2016) by the ''Cộng Đồng Việt Nam Tỵ Nạn Cộng Sản Tại Hòa Lan'' (Associatie Van Vietnamese Vluchtelingen In Nederland). The Monument for Vietnamese boat refugees ( Dutch: ''Monument voor Vietnamese bootvluchtelingen''; Vietnamese: ''Tượng Đài Thuyền Nhân Việt Nam tại Hòa Lan'') started construction in 2012 and was inaugurated by Franc Weerwind, the mayor of Almere, on 30 April 2016 at the Vạn Hạnh Pagoda, a local
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
temple. # Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The Robert D Ray Asian Gardens is a pagoda and garden erected along the banks of the Des Moines River. Paid for in part by the thousands of Tai Dam refugees living in Iowa, the garden memorializes Governor Ray being the first elected official in the US to advocate for their resettlement. #
Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
(February 2021): "Vietnamese Boat People Monument."


In popular culture

* ''Postcards from Nam'' (published by AmazonEncore/Lake Union in 2011) is a novel by Uyen Nicole Duong describing the search of a boat person by his successful Vietnamese immigrant lawyer friend. * ''Boat People'' is a 1982 Hong Kong film based on research on Vietnamese refugees * '' Turtle Beach'' is a 1992 Australian film about raising awareness for the plight of the boat people * '' The Beautiful Country'' is a 2004 film about Vietnamese refugees and their journey to the US * '' Journey from the Fall'' is a 2005 independent film by Ham Tran, about the Vietnamese re-education camp and boat people experience following the Fall of Saigon * '' Ru'' is a 2009 novel by Kim Thúy on the life of a Vietnamese woman who leaves Saigon as a boat person and eventually immigrates to Quebec * "Plus près des étoiles" is a French song by
Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
that describes the departure of the boat people from Vietnam.


See also

*
Afghan refugees Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee from their country as a result the continuous wars that the country has suffered since the Afghan-Soviet war, the Afghan civil war, the Afghanistan war (2001–2021) or either p ...
*
Arab Winter The Arab Winter () is a term referring to the resurgence of authoritarianism and Islamic extremism in some Arab countries in the 2010s in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The term "Arab Winter" refers to the events across Arab League countrie ...
and the boat people * Bắt đầu từ nay, a Vietnamese radio PSA announcing the policy of Comprehensive Plan of Action on Vietnamese boat people * Mariel boatlift * Mass killings under communist regimes * Vietnamese refugees in Israel * Wet feet, dry feet policy


References


Bibliography

* * Elleman, Bruce A. “The Looting and Rape of Vietnamese Boat People.” Essay. In ''Piracy and Maritime Crime: Historical and Modern Case Studies'', 97–108. Newport, Rhode Island: Naval War College Press, 2010. * Martin Tsamenyi, ''The Vietnamese boat people and international law'', Nathan: Griffith University, 1981 * Steve Roberts ''From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America'' (novel, a.o. on Vietnamese family), 2009. * Georges Claude Guilbert ''Après Hanoï: Les mémoires brouillés d'une princesse vietnamienne'' (novel, on Vietnamese woman and her boat people family), 2011. * Thompson, Larry Clinton, ''Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus'', Jefferson, NC: MacFarland Publishing Company, 2010. * Kim Thúy ''Ru'', 2009 * Zhou, Min and Carl L. Bankston III '' Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States'' New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998..


Further reading

* Mary Terrell Cargill and Jade Quang Huynh, ''Voices of Vietnamese Boat People: Nineteen Narratives of Escape and Survival'', 2000,
McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tert ...
, .


External links


Through My Eyes Website
Imperial War Museum - Online Exhibition (images, video and interviews with Vietnam War refugees, including Boat People)
The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Boat People No Longer


CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
Archives footage
Boat People S.O.S

Archive of Vietnamese Boatpeople

Oral History Interviews with 15 Canadian Vietnamese Boat People

Vietnam's boat people: 25 years of fears, hopes and dreams
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Courage & Inspiration: Boat people Documentary
by Les Films de l'Hydre and UniAction, La Presse
Exodus of Refugees Reaches Its Last Stage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vietnamese boat people Migrant crises Vietnamese diaspora 20th century in Vietnam Vietnamese migration Vietnamese refugees Fall of Saigon Aftermath of the Vietnam War Refugees in Malaysia Refugees in Indonesia Refugees by war Refugees in Hong Kong