Philippine Refugee Processing Center

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC) was a large facility near Morong, Bataan, Philippines,

which was used as the final stop for Indochinese refugees making their way to permanent resettlement in other

nations.

Opened in 1980, PRPC was located to the south of Subic Bay and north of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. The

camp prepared Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees, including ethnic minorities (such as Chinese)

from those three nations, for immigration to a variety of resettlement nations such

as Canada, Norway, Australia, France, and primarily theUnited States.

PRPC was funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and was capable of holding up to

18,000 refugees at any one time. Coupled with a large population of Filipino and third-country employees,

PRPC operated like a small city with schools, hospitals, libraries, restaurants, sports facilities, fire

brigades, sewage treatment facilities, power generation facilities, water treatment centers, markets, and houses

of worship for four religions.

The main functions of the camp were to hold the refugee population long enough to

complete tuberculosis testing, wrap up bureaucratic requirements before departure, and—assuming the refugee

was heading to an English speaking nation—give them an opportunity for English as a second

language training. Virtually all refugees had confirmation before arrival at PRPC that they had been accepted to

resettle in the West and therefore the mood among the refugee population was frequently upbeat and positive.

The ESL program was operated by the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and was funded

by the U.S. Department of State. ICMC provided training to adult refugees aged 17 to 55. Aside from ESL

classes, it offered Cultural Orientation (CO) and Work Orientation (WO). A similar ESL program was offered

to children by World Reliefthrough an extensive primary education program that took place within classrooms

throughout the site.

On February 21, 1981, Pope John Paul II visited the site and held a field mass which was attended by various

refugees of different religion. During his visit, he sought for love and compassion for the Indochinese refugees

and called for other nations to assist them in rebuilding their war-torn lives. A Vietnamese refugee crafted a

wooden cross and gave it to the pope as tribute. In honor of the pope's visit, the Bataan Technology Park built

the Replica of Papal Shrine near the actual grounds of where the mass was once held. It was inaugurated on

May 2, 2011, the same day when Pope John Paul II was beatified in Rome.[1]

PRPC funding came to an end in the early 1990s as the wave of Indochinese refugees went from a flood to a

trickle. The site was permanently closed and fell to looters and squatters, and eventually into disrepair by the

early 1990s. By the mid-1990s, the Government of the Philippines saw the error in allowing the site to be

reclaimed by the jungle, and turned the it into the Bataan Technology Park, loosely associated with the new

complex which had been built on the nearby site of the former Subic Bay Naval Base.

Vietnamese boat peopleFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vietnamese boat people refers to refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship after the Vietnam War,

especially during 1978 and 1979, but continuing until the early 1990s. The term "Vietnamese Boat People" is

often used generically to refer to all the Vietnamese (about 2 million) who left their country by any means or

method between 1975 and 1995. This article uses "boat people" to apply only to those people who left Vietnam

by boat and arrived in another country. (See Indochina refugee crisis for an overview.)

The number of boat people leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totalled almost 800,000

between 1975 and 1995. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger and hardship from

pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. The boat people's first destination were the Southeast Asian countries

of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore plus the British colony of Hong Kong. The mass

flight of hundreds of thousands of boat people from Vietnam in 1978 and 1979 caused an international

humanitarian crisis with the Southeast Asian countries increasingly unwilling to accept ever more boat people

on their shores. 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 the developed countries, agreed to assume most of the costs of caring for the boat

people and to resettle them in their countries.

From refugee camps in Southeast Asia, the great majority of boat people were resettled in developed countries,

more than one-half in theUnited States and most of the remainder in France, Canada, Australia, Germany, 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 to the North Vietnamese Army and the

evacuation of more than 130,000 Vietnamese closely associated with the United States or the government

of South Vietnam, Most of the evacuees were resettled in the United States in Operation New

Life and Operation New Arrivals. In 1975, the countries of Cambodia and Laos also fell to communist forces,

thus engendering a steady flow of refugees fleeing all three countries.[1]

After the Saigon evacuation, the numbers of Vietnamese leaving their country remained relatively small until

mid 1978. The cause of the growing numbers of refugees were the increasingly repressive policies of Vietnam.

One million people, especially those associated with the former government of South Vietnam, were sent to re-

education camps, often for several years.[2] Another 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.[3] In addition, the Vietnamese government may have carried out 100,000 extrajudicial executions from 1975 to

1985.[4]

Repression was especially severe on the Hoa, the ethnic Chinese population of Vietnam.[5][6] The Hoa controlled

much of the retail trade in South Vietnam and the communist government increasingly levied them with taxes,

restrictions on trade, and confiscations of their 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 boat people

scattered all over Southeast Asia and in Hong Kong.[7]

The Vietnamese government and its officials profited from the outflow of refugees, especially the often well-to-

do Hoa. The price for obtaining exits permits, documentation, and a boat or ship, often derelict, to leave

Vietnam was reported to be the equivalent of $3,000 U.S. dollars for adults and one-half that for children. 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.[8] These payments were often made in the form of gold bars.

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.[9] Some people bought places in large boats that

held 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 fromSaigon, armed with forged

identity documents, traveling approximately 1,100 km to Danang 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.[citation needed] Planning for such a trip took many months and even years. Although these

attempts often caused a depletion of resources, people usually had several 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 mass 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, 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. Additional ships carrying thousands of refugees soon arrived in Hong Kong and

the Philippines and were also denied permission to land. Their passengers were both ethnic Vietnamese and

Hoa who had paid substantial fares for the passage.[10]

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 neighboring 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."[1]

The United Nations convened an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland 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 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.[11] 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.[1]

Pirates and other hazards

Boat people had to face storms, diseases and starvation, and elude pirates.[12] The boats were not intended for

navigating open waters, and would typically head for busy international shipping lanes some 240 km to the east.

The lucky ones would succeed in being rescued by freighters[13] or reach shore 1 – 2 weeks after departure. The

unlucky ones continue their perilous journey at sea, sometimes lasting a few months long, suffering from

hunger, thirst, disease, and pirates 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 only 23 feet (7 mts) long to attempt the 300 mile (500 km) passage

across the Gulf of Thailand 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.[14] Another of many stories tell of a boat carrying 75

refugees which was sunk by pirates and only one person survived.[15] The survivors of another boat in which

most of 21 women abroad 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.[16]

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. "578 women had been raped; 228 women had been abducted; and 881 people were dead or

missing." An international anti-piracy campaign began in June 1982 and reduced the number of pirate attacks

although they continued to be frequent and often deadly until 1990.[1]

Estimates of the number of Vietnamese boat people who died at sea can only be guesses. According to

the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea.[12] Other wide-ranging estimates are that 10 to 70 percent of Vietnamese boat people died at sea.[17]

Refugee camps

In response to the outpouring of boat people, the neighboring countries with international set up refugee camps

along their shores and on isolated small 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.

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 populaton of more than

40,000 who had arrived in 453 boats. The UNHCR and a large number of relief and aid organizations assisted

the refugees. 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. Sanitation in the crowded

conditions was the greatest problem. The United States and other governments had representatives on the island

to interview refugees for restettlement. 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.[18]

Galang Refugee Camp was similarly on an island, but with a much larger area than Bidong. More than 170,000

Indochinese, the great majority Boat People, were temporarily resident 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.[19]

In 1980, the Philippine Refugee Processing Center was established on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines.

The center housed up to 18,000 Indochinese refugees who were approved for resettlement in the United States

and elsewhere and provided them English language and other cross-cultural training.

1980s surge and response[edit]

Between 1980 and 1986 the outflow of boat people from Vietnam was less than the numbers resettled in third

countries. In 1987, the numbers of boat people began to grow again. The destination this time was primarily

Hong Kong and Thailand. 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 centers and confined until they

could be resettled. Boat people were held in prison-like conditions and education and other programs

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.[20]

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.[21]

Resettlement and repatriation[edit]

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 1.6 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).[22]

UNHCR statistics for 1975 to 1997 indicate that 839,228 Vietnamese arrived in UNHCR camps in Southeast

Asia and Hongkong. 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 three countries

resettling most Vietnamese boat people and land arrivals were the United States with 402,382; Australia with

108,808; and Canada with 100,012.[23]

Vietnamese refugees resettling in Western countries

The Orderly Departure Program from 1979 until 1994 helped to resettle refugees in the United States as well as

other Western countries. In this program, refugees were asked to go back to Vietnam and waited for assessment.

If they were deemed to be eligible to be re-settled in the US (according to criteria that the US government had

established), they would be allowed to immigrate.

Humanitarian Operation (HO) was set up to benefit former South Vietnamese who were involved in the former

regime or worked for the US. They were to be allowed to immigrate to the US if they had suffered persecution

by the communist regime after 1975. Half-American children in Vietnam, descendants of servicemen, were also

allowed to immigrate along with their mothers or foster parents. This program sparked a wave of rich

Vietnamese parents buying the immigration rights from the real mothers or foster parents. They paid money (in

the black market) to transfer the half-American children into their custody, then applied for visas to emigrate to

the USA. Most of these half-American children were born of American soldiers and prostitutes. They were

subject to discrimination, poverty, neglect and abuse. On November 15, 2005, the United States and Vietnam

signed an agreement allowing additional Vietnamese to immigrate who were not able to do so before the

humanitarian operation program ended in 1994. Effectively this new agreement was the extension and also final

chapter of the HO program.

The Roman Catholic Church, given its long history with the Vietnamese people, facilitated the relocation of a

large number of Vietnamese boat people through its many Orders and charities. Involved in this work was the

work of the Vietnamese Refugee Office of Caritas Italiana, a major Catholic Italian charity, under the leadership

of Monsignor Tran Van Hoai.

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.

By the late 1980s, Western Europe, the United States and Australia received fewer Vietnamese refugees[citation

needed]. It became much harder for refugees to get visas to settle in those countries.

As hundreds of thousands of people were escaping out of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia via land or boat,

countries of first asylum inSouth-East Asia were faced with the continuing exodus and the increasing reluctance

by third countries to maintain resettlement opportunities for every exile, they threatened push-backs of

the asylum seekers. 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 refugees, but only asylum seekers and

would have to be screened to qualify for refugee status. Those who were "screened-out" would be sent back to

Vietnam and Laos, under an orderly and monitored repatriation program.

The refugees faced prospects of staying years in the camps and ultimate repatriation back to Vietnam. They

were branded, rightly or wrongly, as economic refugees. 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[citation needed].

There appeared to be some unwritten rules in Western countries. Officials gave preference to married couples,

young families and women over 18 years old, leaving single men and minors to suffer at the camps for years.

Among these unwanted, those who worked and studied hard and involved themselves in constructive refugee

community activities were eventually accepted by the West by recommendations from UNHCR workers. Hong

Kong was open about its willingness to take the remnants at its camp, but only some refugees took up the offer.

Many refugees would have been accepted by Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, but hardly any wanted to

settle in these countries.

The market reforms of Vietnam, the imminent [Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|return of Hong Kong

to China by Britain] 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 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.

{{other uses|Boat people (disambiguation)}}

[[File:35 Vietnamese boat people 2.JPEG|thumb|200px|right|Vietnamese boat people awaiting rescue.]]

'''Vietnamese boat people''' refers to [[refugee]]s who fled [[Vietnam]] by boat and ship after the [[Vietnam War]], especially during 1978 and 1979, but continuing until the early 1990s. The term "Vietnamese Boat

People" is often used generically to refer to all the Vietnamese (about 2 million) who left their country by any means or method between 1975 and 1995. This article uses "boat people" to apply only to those people who left

Vietnam by boat and arrived in another country. (See [[Indochina refugee crisis]] for an overview.)

The number of boat people leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totalled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger and hardship from

pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. The boat people's first destination were the [[Southeast Asia]]n countries of [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], [[Philippines]], and [[Singapore]] plus the British colony

of [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]]. The mass flight of hundreds of thousands of boat people from Vietnam in 1978 and 1979 caused an international humanitarian crisis with the Southeast Asian countries increasingly

unwilling to accept ever more boat people on their shores. 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 the [[developed countries]], agreed to

assume most of the costs of caring for the boat people and to resettle them in their countries.

From [[refugee camps]] in Southeast Asia, the great majority of boat people were resettled in developed countries, more than one-half in the [[United States]] and most of the remainder in [[France]], [[Canada]],

[[Australia]], [[Germany]], 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==

[[File:Boat people family.gif|thumb|200px|A family of boat people rescued by a U.S Navy ship.]]

[[File:Processed Vietnamese refugees.jpg|thumb|200px|Rescued Vietnamese boat people being given water.]]

[[File:South China Sea....Crewmen of the amphibious cargo ship USS Durham (LKA-114) take Vietnamese refugees aboard a small... - NARA - 558518.tif|thumb|South China Sea....Crewmen of the amphibious cargo

ship USS Durham (LKA-114) take Vietnamese refugees aboard a small craft, April 1975]]

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975 with the [[Fall of Saigon]] to the [[PAVN|North Vietnamese Army]] and the evacuation of more than 130,000 Vietnamese closely associated with the United States or the

government of [[South Vietnam]], Most of the evacuees were resettled in the United States in [[Operation New Life]] and [[Operation New Arrivals]]. In 1975, the countries of [[Cambodia]] and [[Laos]] also fell to

[[communist]] forces, thus engendering a steady flow of refugees fleeing all three countries.<ref name="unhcr.org">[http://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bad0.html ''State of the World's Refugees, 2000''] United

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, pp. 81-84, 87, 92, 97; accessed 8 Jan 2014</ref>

After the Saigon evacuation, the numbers of Vietnamese leaving their country remained relatively small until mid 1978. The cause of the growing numbers of refugees were the increasingly repressive policies of Vietnam.

One million people, especially those associated with the former government of South Vietnam, were sent to [[re-education camp]]s, often for several years.<ref>Anh Do and Hieu Tran Phan,

[http://dartcenter.org/content/camp-z30-d-survivors Camp Z30-D: The Survivors], ''Orange County Register'', 29 April 2001.</ref> Another million people, mostly city dwellers, "volunteered" to live in "[[New Economic Zones program|New Economic Zones]]" where they were to survive by reclaiming land and clearing jungle to

grow crops.<ref>Desbarats, J. "Population Redistribution in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" ''Population and Development Review, Vol 13, No 1, 1987, pp. 43-76</ref> In addition, the Vietnamese government may have carried out 100,000 extrajudicial executions from 1975 to 1985.<ref>Desbarats, Jacqueline "Represssion in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Executions and Population Relocations" from ''The Vietnam Debate'' (1990) by

John Morton Moore http://jim.com/repression.htm, accessed 8 Jan 2014</ref>

Repression was especially severe on the [[Hoa]], the ethnic Chinese population of Vietnam.<ref>Butterfield, Fox, [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/boatpeople1.pdf "Hanoi Regime Reported Resolved to Oust

Nearly All Ethnic Chinese,"] ''[[The New York Times]],'' July 12, 1979.</ref><ref>Kamm, Henry, [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/boatpeople4.pdf "Vietnam Goes on Trial in Geneva Over its

Refugees,"] ''The New York Times,'' July 22, 1979.</ref> The Hoa controlled much of the retail trade in South Vietnam and the communist government increasingly levied them with taxes, restrictions on trade, and

confiscations of their 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 boat people scattered all over Southeast Asia and in Hong Kong.<ref>Thompson, Larry Clinton ''Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus'' Jefferson, NC:

MacFarland Publishing Company, 2010, pp. 142-143</ref>

The Vietnamese government and its officials profited from the outflow of refugees, especially the often well-to-do Hoa. The price for obtaining exits permits, documentation, and a boat or ship, often derelict, to leave

Vietnam was reported to be the equivalent of $3,000 U.S. dollars for adults and one-half that for children. 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.<ref>"Special Study on Indochina Refugee Situation -- July 1979", Douglas Pike Collection, The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University,

http://www.virtual.vietnam.ttu.edu/cgi-bin/starfetch.exe?c3WGk7fZGwC.5GSATuRwDvOhJJrHoi37YUc3lHzCxC5@Dg6Q@i.EMsVl.BwT.mM49B2oJjiYBplFyq.OeCcgrOYQN8lbdw@dsxmaCfsxVMY/2123309004.pdf, accessed 8 Jan 2014; ''Far Eastern Economic Review''

December 22, 1978, p. 12</ref> These payments were often made in the form of gold bars.

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.<ref

name="autogenerated1">[http://www.civilization.ca/cultur/vietnam/vilea03e.html Civilization.ca - Boat People No Longer: Vietnamese Canadians - Leaving Vietnam<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Some people bought places in large boats that held 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]], armed with forged identity documents, traveling approximately 1,100&nbsp;km to [[Danang]] 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.{{citation needed|date=September 2008}} Planning for such a trip took many months and even years. Although these attempts often caused a depletion of resources,

people usually had several false starts before they managed to escape.<ref name="autogenerated1"

==Exodus in 1978-1979==

Although a few thousand people had fled Vietnam by boat between 1975 and mid-1978, the mass 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, 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. Additional ships carrying thousands of refugees soon arrived in Hong Kong and the Philippines and were also denied permission to land. Their passengers were both ethnic

Vietnamese and Hoa who had paid substantial fares for the passage.<ref>Thompson, pp. 150-152</ref>

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 neighboring 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."<ref name="unhcr.org">[http://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bad0.html ''State of the World's Refugees, 2000''] United

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, pp. 83,84; accessed 8 Jan 2014</ref>

The [[United Nations]] convened an international conference in [[Geneva, Switzerland]] 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]] 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.<ref>Kumin, Judith "Orderly

Departure from Vietnam: Cold War Anomaly or Humanitarian Innovation?" ''Refugee Survey Quarterly'', Vol. 27, No. 1 (2008), p. 104</ref> 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.<ref name="unhcr.org">[http://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bad0.html ''State of the World's Refugees, 2000''] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, pp. 83,84; accessed 8 Jan 2014; Thompson, pp. 164-165</ref>

==Pirates and other hazards==

Boat people had to face storms, diseases and starvation, and elude [[piracy|pirates]].<ref name="Associated Press 1979">''Associated Press'', June 23, 1979, ''San Diego Union'', July 20, 1986. See generally Nghia M. Vo, ''The Vietnamese Boat People'' (2006), 1954 and 1975-1992, McFarland.</ref> The boats were not intended for navigating open waters, and would typically head for busy international shipping lanes some 240&nbsp;km to the east. The lucky ones would succeed in being rescued by freighters<ref name="gold">{{cite news | last = Chang | first = Harold | title = Vietnam escape trail paved with gold | date = 1977-06-26 | publisher = South

China Morning Post | page =1 |url=http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/newspaper/view/02_09.01/127011.pdf}}</ref> or reach shore 1 – 2 weeks after departure. The unlucky ones continue their perilous journey at sea, sometimes

lasting a few months long, suffering from hunger, thirst, disease, and pirates 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 only 23 feet (7 mts) long to attempt the 300 mile (500&nbsp;km)

passage across the [[Gulf of Thailand]] to southern Thailand or Malaysia. Their two outboard motors soon failed and they drifted without power and ran out of food and water. [[Thai people|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.<ref>United States, Congress, House, "Piracy in the Gulf of Thailand: A Crisis for the International Community", 97th Congress, 2nd Session, GPO, 1978, pp. 15-17</ref> Another of many stories tell of a boat carrying 75 refugees which

was sunk by pirates and only one person survived.<ref>"Thai Pirates Continuing Brutal Attacks of Vietnamese Boat People" ''The New York Times'', 11 Jan 1982. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/11/world/thai-pirates-

continuing-brutal-attacks-on-vietnamese-boat-people.html, accessed 12 Jan 2012</ref> The survivors of another boat in which most of 21 women abroad 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.<ref>UNHCR "The Adventures of Len", ''Refugees Magazine'' May 1983, pp. 87-92</ref>

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. "578 women had been raped; 228 women had been abducted; and 881 people were dead or missing." An international anti-piracy campaign began in June 1982 and reduced the number of pirate attacks

although they continued to be frequent and often deadly until 1990.<ref name="unhcr.org">[http://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bad0.html ''State of the World's Refugees, 2000''] United

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, pp. 81-84, 87, 92, 97; accessed 8 Jan 2014</ref>

Estimates of the number of Vietnamese boat people who died at sea can only be guesses. According to the [[United Nations High Commission for Refugees]], between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea.<ref name="Associated Press 1979"/> Other wide-ranging estimates are that 10 to 70 percent of Vietnamese boat people died at sea.<ref>Rummel, Rudolph (1997), [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP6.HTM Statistics of Vietnamese Democide], in his ''Statistics of Democide'', Table 6.1B, lines 730, 749-751.</ref>

==Refugee camps==

In response to the outpouring of boat people, the neighboring countries with international set up refugee camps along their shores and on isolated small 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.

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 populaton of more than 40,000 who had arrived in 453 boats. The UNHCR and a large number of relief and aid organizations assisted the refugees. 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. Sanitation in the crowded conditions was the greatest problem. The United States and other governments had representatives on the island to interview refugees for restettlement. 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.<ref>"Bidong Island" http://www.terengganutourism.com/pulau_bidong.htm, accessed 15 Jan 2014; Thompson, pp 156-

160</ref>

Galang Refugee Camp was similarly on an island, but with a much larger area than Bidong. More than 170,000 Indochinese, the great majority Boat People, were temporarily resident 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.<ref>"Galang

Refugee Camp" http://www.unhcr.or.id/en/news-and-views/photo-galleries/29-galang-refugee-camp, accessed 14 Jan 2013</ref>

In 1980, the [[Philippine Refugee Processing Center]] was established on the [[Bataan Peninsula]] in the Philippines. The center housed up to 18,000 Indochinese refugees who were approved for resettlement in the

United States and elsewhere and provided them English language and other cross-cultural training.

==1980s surge and response==

Between 1980 and 1986 the outflow of boat people from Vietnam was less than the numbers resettled in third countries. In 1987, the numbers of boat people began to grow again. The destination this time was primarily Hong Kong and Thailand. 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 centers and confined until they

could be resettled. Boat people were held in prison-like conditions and education and other programs 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.<ref>Robinson, W. Courtland, "The Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees, 1989-1997: Sharing the Burden and

Pass the Buck" ''Journal of Refugee Studies'', Vol. 17, No. 3, 2004, p. 320, 323</ref>

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.<ref>Robinson, W. Courtland ''Terms of Refuge'', London: Zed Books, 1998,

p. 193</ref>

==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 1.6 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]]).<ref>Robinson,

''Terms of Refuge'' Appendix 1 and 2; ''Far Eastern Economic Review'', June 23, 1978, p. 20</ref>

UNHCR statistics for 1975 to 1997 indicate that 839,228 Vietnamese arrived in UNHCR camps in Southeast Asia and Hongkong. 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 three countries resettling most Vietnamese boat people and land arrivals were the United States with 402,382;

Australia with 108,808; and Canada with 100,012.<ref>Robinson, ''Terms of Refuge'', Appendix 1 and 2</ref>

== Vietnamese refugees resettling in Western countries ==

{{Refimprove section|date=November 2010}}

[[File:Fluchtboot Cap Anamur.jpg|thumb|Escape boat saved by the [[Cap Anamur]] in late April 1984, placed in Troisdorf]]

[[File:Cap-anamur-denkmal.JPG|thumb|Memorial and tribute of the Vietnamese refugees in Hamburg]]

The [[Orderly Departure Program]] from 1979 until 1994 helped to resettle refugees in the United States as well as other Western countries. In this program, refugees were asked to go back to Vietnam and waited for

assessment. If they were deemed to be eligible to be re-settled in the US (according to criteria that the US government had established), they would be allowed to immigrate.

[[Humanitarian Operation]] (HO) was set up to benefit former South Vietnamese who were involved in the former regime or worked for the US. They were to be allowed to immigrate to the US if they had suffered

persecution by the communist regime after 1975. Half-American children in Vietnam, descendants of servicemen, were also allowed to immigrate along with their mothers or foster parents. This program sparked a

wave of rich Vietnamese parents buying the immigration rights from the real mothers or foster parents. They paid money (in the black market) to transfer the half-American children into their custody, then applied for visas to emigrate to the USA. Most of these half-American children were born of American soldiers and prostitutes. They were subject to discrimination, poverty, neglect and abuse. On November 15, 2005, the

United States and Vietnam signed an agreement allowing additional Vietnamese to immigrate who were not able to do so before the humanitarian operation program ended in 1994. Effectively this new agreement was the

extension and also final chapter of the HO program.

The Roman Catholic Church, given its long history with the Vietnamese people, facilitated the relocation of a large number of Vietnamese boat people through its many Orders and charities. Involved in this work was the

work of the Vietnamese Refugee Office of Caritas Italiana, a major Catholic Italian charity, under the leadership of [[Monsignor Tran Van Hoai]].

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 [[Vietnamese people in Hong Kong|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.

By the late 1980s, Western Europe, the United States and Australia received fewer Vietnamese refugees {{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}. It became much harder for refugees to get [[visa (document)|visa]]s

to settle in those countries.

As hundreds of thousands of people were escaping out of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia via land or boat, countries of first asylum in [[South-East Asia]] were faced with the continuing exodus and the increasing

reluctance by third countries to maintain resettlement opportunities for every exile, they threatened push-backs of the [[asylum seekers]]. 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]] refugees, but only

[[asylum seekers]] and would have to be screened to qualify for [[refugee status]]. Those who were "screened-out" would be sent back to Vietnam and Laos, under an orderly and monitored [[repatriation]] program.

The refugees faced prospects of staying years in the camps and ultimate [[repatriation]] back to Vietnam. They were branded, rightly or wrongly, as economic [[refugee]]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{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}}.

There appeared to be some unwritten rules in Western countries. Officials gave preference to married couples, young families and women over 18 years old, leaving single men and minors to suffer at the camps for years. Among these unwanted, those who worked and studied hard and involved themselves in constructive refugee

community activities were eventually accepted by the West by recommendations from UNHCR workers. Hong Kong was open about its willingness to take the remnants at its camp, but only some refugees took up the offer. Many refugees would have been accepted by Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, but hardly any wanted to

settle in these countries.

The market reforms of Vietnam, the imminent [Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|return of Hong Kong to China by Britain] 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 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==

[[File:Hamburg.Gedenkstein.Cap Anamur.wmt.jpg|thumb|Bronze plaque at [[Port of Hamburg]] with thanksgiving of Vietnamese refugees by [[Cap Anamur]] ships]]

[[File:Vietname Boat People Memorial.JPG|thumb|Vietnamese Boat People Memorial, in Brisbane, QLD, dedicated 02.12.2012, executed by Phillip Piperides]]

[[File:Boat People Memorial, Westminster, California.jpg|thumb|Boat People Memorial, Westminster, California]]

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:

# [[Grand-Saconnex|Grand-Saconnex,]] Switzerland (February, 2006).<ref>[http://www.anhduong.net/Tincongdong/Jan06/DaiTuongNiem.htm Tượng đài ở Thụy Sĩ]</ref>

# City of [[Santa Ana, California]], USA (February, 2006).<ref>http://hoahao.org/default.asp?catid=10&nid=7738</ref>

# [[Liège]], [[Belgium]] (July, 2006).<ref>[http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/2006/07/06/InaugurationVnBoatPeopleMonumentBi_DHi

eu/ Radio Free Asia: Tượng đài ở Bỉ]</ref>

# [[Hamburg]], Germany (October 2006).<ref>{{de icon}} [http://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Kurzmeldungen/DE/2009/09/gedenkstein.html Report (Gedenkstein der Dankbarkeit)] and [http://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Bilderstrecken/20090912_Festakt_Hamburg.html?

nn=109628&notFirst=false#Start Images] of inauguration ceremony on the site of the Ministry of Interior Germany</ref><ref>[http://www.viengiac.de/vn/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=175&Itemid=33 Tượng đài Hamburg]</ref>

# [[Troisdorf]], Germany (May, 2007) (tháng 5, 2007)<ref>[http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/BoatPeopleMonumentInaugurationCelebrationGermany_

MThuy-20070501.html?searchterm=None Radio Free Asia: Tượng đài ở Đức]</ref><ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/vietnamese/vietnam/story/2007/05/070502_viet_monument.shtml</ref>

# [[Footscray]] (Jensen Park Reserve of [[Melbourne]]), Australia (June, 2008).<ref>[http://franklin.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/newmedia.nsf/

e741a3eefa539841ca256c8c0016eaac/15919ba0bf49572cca25747300057667!OpenDocument Hulls unveils Vietnamese Boat People Memorial]</ref>

# [[Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine]], France (May 11, 2008).<ref>[http://www.vnbp.org/vietnamese/memorial/monuments/france/index.htm Hình ảnh công trình đài

tưởng niệm tại Bagneaux, Pháp, trong khuôn viên chùa Khánh Anh]</ref><ref>[http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/boat-people-once-accused-by-hanoi-as-traitor-and-

now-vietnam-thousands-of-miles-away-intestine-sections-05012009155937.html Liệt kê đài tưởng niệm Thuyền nhân trên thế giới]</ref>

# [[Westminster, California]] (April, 2009), by ViVi Vo Hung Kiet.<ref>[http://www.vietbao.com/?ppid=45&pid=45&nid=142504 ''Việt Báo'': Tượng đài Thuyền nhân ở Westminster]</ref><ref>[http://calitoday.com/news/view_article.html?

article_id=71fa7e95106aaf56228cd8a284b4e334 Thành phố Westminster và Tượng-đài Thuyền-nhân Việt-Nam]</ref><ref>[http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=94059&z=1 ''Người Việt'': Khánh-

thành tượng-đài Westminster]</ref>

# Port [[Landungsbruecken]] ([[Hamburg]]), Germany (September, 2009).<ref>[http://tvvn.org/tvvn/index.php?categoryid=68&p2_articleid=546 Tường thuật buổi lễ Khánh Thành Tượng Đài Tị Nạn

Hamburg]</ref><ref>[http://www.lyhuong.net/viet/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1513:1513&catid=37:bandoc&Itemid=56 Ngày tri ân nhân dân

Đức]</ref>

# [[Galang Island]], Indonesia (demolished)

# [[Bidong Island]], Malaysia

# Washington D.C., United States.

# [[Geneva]], Switzerland

# Canada: Roundabout "Rond Point Saigon", André Malraux intersection avenue and boulevard des Genets of Bussy-Saint-Georges commune, town of Marne-la-Vallée (September 12,

2010).,<ref>[http://www.tuongdaibussy.com/ Tượng đài Bussy]</ref> statue by sculptor Vũ Đình Lâm.<ref>[http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/The-opening-of-vietnamese-boat-people-monument-in-

france-TuongAn-09212010223327.html "Hướng về tương lai với ''Niềm Mơ Ước của Mẹ''" Khánh thành tượng đài thuyền nhân]</ref>

# [[Bankstown]], NSW, Australia (November, 2011) at Saigon Place.<ref>[http://vietluanonline.com/11-11-11/KhanhthanhtuongdaithuyennhanVNoSydney.html Khánh thành tượng đài thuyền nhân Việt Nam ở

Sydney]</ref> This is the bronze statue, weighing more than three tons by sculptor Terrence Plowright.

# Tarempa in [[Anambas]], [[Indonesia]].<ref>[http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm2/templates/?a=141320&z=3 Khắc tên thuyền nhân trên đài tưởng niệm Indonesia]</ref>

# [[Brisbane, Queensland]], Australia (December 2, 2012) by Phillip Piperides.<ref>[http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm2/templates/viewarticlesNVO.aspx?articleid=158835&zoneid=3#.UMQtt4XlE7A

Queensland khánh thành tượng đài Thuyền nhân]</ref>

# Perth, Western Australia, Australia (November 1, 2013) in Wade Street Park Reserve. 5.5 meter high monument of sculptor Coral Lowry.<ref>[http://perthvoiceinteractive.com/2013/11/01/boat-people-say-thanks-

australia/ "Boat people say ‘thanks, Australia’"]</ref>

==See also==

* [[Bắt đầu từ nay]], the frequently broadcast Vietnamese radio [[Public service announcement|PSA]] on [[Radio Television Hong Kong]] (RTHK) in [[Hong Kong]] during the late [[1980s in Hong Kong|1980s]] and

early [[1990s in Hong Kong|1990s]], announcing the policy of [[Comprehensive Plan of Action]] on Vietnamese boat people.

* ''[[Turtle Beach (film)|Turtle Beach]]'', 1992 Australian film about raising awareness for the plight of the boat people

* ''[[Boat People (film)]]'', a narrative film made by Hong Kong director [[Ann Hui]], based on research on Vietnamese refugees

* [[Indochina refugee crisis]]

* ''[[Journey from the Fall]]'', an independent film on the same subject

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==

* 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.

* Kim Thúy ''Ru'',2009

* [[Min Zhou|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.ISBN 978-0-87154-995-2.

== External links ==

{{Commons category}}

* [http://www.throughmyeyes.org.uk/server/show/nav.23334 Through My Eyes Website] Imperial War Museum - Online Exhibition (images, video and interviews with Vietnam War refugees, including Boat People)

* [http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cultur/vietnam/viint00e.shtml The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Boat People No Longer]

* [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/society/immigration/boat-people-a-refugee-crisis/topic---boat-people-a-refugee-crisis.html Boat people - a refugee crisis]: [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] Archives

footage

* [http://www.bpsos.org/ Boat People S.O.S]

* [http://www.vnbp.org/ Archive of Vietnamese Boatpeople]

* [http://multiculturalcanada.ca/vietnamese Oral History Interviews with 15 Canadian Vietnamese Boat People]

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030405185711/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/vietnam/story/boat.people/ Vietnam's boat people: 25 years of fears, hopes and dreams], [[CNN]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat People}}[[Category:Human migration]][[Category:Vietnamese diaspora]][[Category:History of Vietnam]][[Category:Vietnamese migration]][[Category:Vietnamese refugees]][[Category:Vietnam War]][[Category:Aftermath of the Vietnam War]]

HISTORY

http://morongmuseum.wordpress.com/history/

The Philippine Refugee Processing Center was a village in Morong, Bataan which was used from 1980 to 1994

as the final stop for Indochinese refugees prior to their final settlement in Canada, Australia, France, Norway

and the United States. Migrants were mainly from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos who took flight mainly via

small fishing boats. Many were rescued by passing cargo ships and some actually landed in the Philippines.

The facility was funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The camp was

mainly to ensure tuberculosis testing, to hold the migrants prior to final arrangements at the destination, and to

teach English as a second language for those destined to English-speaking countries. ESL was provided by the

International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and funded by the US State Department. A similar

smaller language program and primary education program was run by World Relief.

The camp was designed to handle a maximum of 18,000 people and at one time the population in the camp

reached 15,000. It is estimated that the camp took in a total of 400,000 people in its decade of history.

A former camp worker had this to say when he visited: “it was hard to imagine that 18,000 people at a time had

lived here; their billets had gone without trace, bulldozed, I was told, some years back. The Camp had been

divided into ten neighborhoods, each neighborhood having thirty buildings, with ten billets each, and each billet

accommodated six people or more; there they cooked, ate, slept, studied, worried, argued, fought, played, sang,

loved, planned, prayed, dreamed, and made do with what they had. During the time I spent there, over 100,000

people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos passed through, most spending about six months there, but some

getting stuck and having to wait much longer; there were others, too, who never left the Camp, but were

resettled, sooner than they expected or wanted, in what came to be known as Neighborhood 11: the cemetery.”

The volume of people trickled down towards 1990 and the camp was eventually decommissioned in 1994.

ABOUT

The Boat People Museum was set up to commemorate the former Philippine Refugee Processing Center in

Morong, Bataan which was used in 1980-1994 as a temporary resettlement and preparation area for boat

refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The Museum is about the story of suffering, people diaspora, and

the triumph of the human spirit. It is about compassion, cooperation among various peoples, NGOs and

governments, and about the United Nations. It is a story which unfortunately repeats itself. Yet there are small

untold heroes. The Museum was set up with meager funds and volunteer help, mainly from those who were

involved earlier as employees of the camp. Photos and small memorabilia were gathered from the villagers, as

well as from visitors. An authentic boat that was used in the migration was refurbished and is a real monument

to this period.

BTPI MUSEUM TO BE RELAUNCHEDPosted on May 10, 2013

the BTPI Museum, Library and Archives is to be relaunched as The Boat People Museum. The relaunching means a new website, the one you are reading now. It also means a new signage and entrance design. It will also include slowly reproducing the photo exhibits into a more modern exhibition using large format photos. As part of the effort we are also contemplating on giving the project to a non-profit organization so it can raise funding for the museum’s improvement.

LOCATION

The Boat People Museum is located at the Bataan Techno Park Inc. (BTPI) in Morong, Bataan. You drive to

Subic Bay and follow the Morong Road to Anvaya Cove. Before reaching Morong there is a fork, the left leads

to BTPI and Atmanda Eco-Park, while the right of the fork leads to Anvaya Cove. The area is only 20 minutes

drive from Subic Bay and Olongapo.

Opening Hours: Open Everyday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Admission: P20.00 per person.

Food and Accommodations: Available next door at Atmanda Ecopark.

Bataan Technology Park, Home of Atmanda Ecopark http://www.bcda.gov.ph/freeport_and_ecozones/show/13

In March 1997, the entire municipality of Morong was proclaimed as the Morong Special Economic Zone (MSEZ), with the Bataan Technology Park as its Main Zone.  The Park is home to a resort called, Atmanda Ecopark.

This 365-hectare property, is once the site of the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, which offered friendship, hope and new beginnings to some 400,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  The Park houses 11 symbolic monuments and shrines constructed by the former Indo-Chinese refugees.  Read More

In 2011, BCDA and officials of the Bataan Technology Park, Inc. (BTPI) and guests unveiled a shrine commemorating Blessed Pope John Paul II, who celebrated Holy Mass before some 20,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees three decades ago on February 21, 1981.  To date, the Park maintains its identity as a “histo-cultural”, educational destination, owing to its rich history as the former PRPC, where the Philippines and its people played its humanitarian role as host to some 400,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War in the 70’s. Carrying on as a place of hope and concord, there are plans to transform the park into a spiritual pilgrimage destination for the international community. 

Getting ThereOverlooking the South China Sea, the Park is situated in the most advanced and dynamic region in the country, as it lies within the area of the Manila-Clark-Subic economic triad.  It is just a 20-minute drive from Subic and 2 ½ hour-drive from Manila via the SCTEX.  Aligned with the development of Ayala Land's Anvaya Cove, the Atmanda Ecopark can reached by sea through the operation of a passenger terminal for a direct ferry transport to Manila at the Binanga Port in Morong.  

Investing in the ParkInvestors who wish to put up can enjoy the following benefits: a)  5% levy on Gross Income Earned (GIE) in lieu of all national and local taxes and duties; b) tax and duty-free importation of raw materials and capital equipment; and c) management of the zone as a separate customs territory, ensuring free flow or movement of goods and capital equipment within, into and exported our of the zone.

The Atmanda Ecopark provides vast agricultural land where there is available agri-industrial-based labor. It enjoys the benefits and incentives of a Special Economic Zone.  With its size and accessibility, it showcases its potential as a retirement haven, a corporate training center, and a zone for environment-friendly small- and medium-scale industries through its increased accessibility, investor perks, and proximity to the Subic Freeport Zone and the Clark Freeport Zone—not to mention the mushrooming residential and resort developments along the Bataan coastline. 

Why the name "Atmanda"?

“Atma may refer to the “Self.” (Persian): The whole universe obeys the will of Atma or the “Self.” Iqbal a famous Persian Philosopher condemned self-destruction, for him the aim of life is self-realization and self-knowledge. There are stages through which the Atma or “Self” has to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection. Similarly, Atman may refer to: Ātman (Hinduism), a means ‘self’ Ātman (Buddhism), a reference to the essential self Atman (Jainism), a philosophical term used within Jainism to identify the soul.

“Since war and peace are paths humanity has undergone in the path of self-realization and self-knowledge then it would be fitting to encapsulate the commonality of the three dominant groups of Indochinese refugees. Vietnamese are predominantly Mahayana Buddhists, Cambodians (Khmer) are predominantly Buddhist, one which blends elements of Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, animism etc and finally Laotians who are predominantly Theravada Buddhist, with Animist and some Hindu influences.”

BATAAN TECHNOLOGY PARK INC.(Morong, Bataan)

http://www.bataan.gov.ph/ragingpeninsula/btpark.html

The Bataan Technology Park, a 365 hectare of land along the rolling hills of the Morong Special Economic Zone in Bataan overlooking the South China Sea , is the former site of the United Nations Philippine Refugee Processing Center. It is now conceived to become the growth nucleus for knowledge-based industries that will propel the Philippines towards being the next hub for high technology innovation and applications development, especially in information technology (IT) and its related industries, in the Asia-Pacific Rim.

Aside from the proposed Economic Zone to be developed on this area, there are existing Dormitories and accommodation facilities which are also ideal for conferences and team buildings. The shrines and monuments left here served as witness of man’s courage to endure the triumph even in very vile conditions.

HISTORICAL LEGACY AND PLACES OF INTEREST AT BTPI

FREEDOM PLAZA

The landscaped park at the heart of what used to be the administration complex of the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, Freedom Plaza was one of the first sights that greeted the thousands of refugees from Indochina who were fortunate enough to arrive in Bataan. For those Indochinese refugees and asylum-seekers, this airy and open plaza became a symbol of safety, freedom and a new beginning. Freedom Plaza now adorns the administration center of the Bataan Technology Park.

INDOCHINESE MAP

Showing the map of Indochina, this stone marker was put by the refugees who stayed at the Philippine Refuge Processing Center to remind them of their home countries. From 1980 to 1994, the PRPC hosted more than 350,000 refugees from the Indochinese peninsula- Vietnamese, Laotians and Khmers from Cambodia. Over its 14-year existence, the Center was home to some 18,000 refugees and asylum seekers at any one time.

BUDDHIST TEMPLE I

This huge image of the Buddha is located in one of two Buddhist temples built in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. It was hand-made by the refugees who lived in the Center. Those refugees came from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, countries where Buddhism was – and still is – the main religion. In Vietnam today, for instance, over 70% of the population are either Buddhist or strongly influenced by Buddhist practices.

BUDDHIST TEMPLE II

These two icons mark another Buddhist temple, an open-air haven which the Vietnamese refugees who stayed at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center built on a quiet spot overlooking a river. Guarded over by these imposing Buddhist images – a meditating Buddha and a female Bodhisattva or saint – this temple must have been a favorite “meditation corner” for many of the Vietnamese, Lao and Khmer refuges who used to call this area of Bataan home.

THAT LUANG

Refugees who came from Laos, now known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, built this monument, one of the most ornate landmarks in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. It was built in honor of Luang Prabang, the ancient capital city of the Lan Xan kingdom. According to Laotian legend, Luang Prabang was first named Muang Swa after King Khun Xua who ruled Laos in the eight century. It was later renamed Xieng Dong and Xieng Thong. During the reign of King Pa Ngum, from 1354 to 1372, the two cities of Xieng Dong and Xieng Thong were united and given the new name Luang Prabang after thr gold image of Buddha, the Phrabang.

REFUGEE BOAT

Many of the refugees who came to the Philippine Refugee Processing Center arrived in the Philippine aboard rickety, wooden boats. Desperate to escape political, social and economic persecution in their home countries, these refugees dared to cross dangerous seas aboard these flimsy vessels – often with nothing more than the shirts on their backs – in search for a better life and a brighter future for themselves and their children.

BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

An image of the Blessed Mother is one of the surprises that await visitors to what was once the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. Although the PRPC, over its 14 – year existence, hosted over 350,000 Indochinese refugees, most of whom were Buddhist, it was also home to a few Roman Catholic Vietnamese refugees. These Vietnamese Catholics, who represented the minority, both at the Center and in their home country, built this monument to thank the Blessed Mother for their safe arrival in the country.

KHMER MONUMENT

Built by the Khmer refugees from Cambodia, this monument is reminiscent of the ancient temples that dot the Cambodian landscape, particularly in Angkor. Thse temples, built from 879 to 1191 AD, when the Khmer civilization was at the height of its development, represent some of mankind’s most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements.

BAYON MONUMENT

Built by Khmer refugees, this monument is a replica of the Bayon, the state temple built by King Jayavarman VII at the Angkor Thom. Copying the temples at the Bayon, this monument shows four faces in the four cardinal points of the compass.

VIETNAMESE MONUMENT

Built by the Vietnamese refugees who came to the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, this monument salutes the best of Vietnam’s culture. It showcases the influence of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, the three great religions that helped shape Vietnames culture. At the same time, it symbolizes the strong sense of community that has allowed the Vietnamese to resist being assimilated by foreign cultures.

ANGKOR WAT

rected by the Khmer refugees who came to the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, this monument was inspired by the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It is a humble representation of the more than 100 temples that still stand at this ancient Cambodian city, the surviving remains of a grand metropolis from where god-like kings once ruled Southeast Asia.

 

aan Philippine Refugee A typical day at PRPC. A pictorial memory by Gaylord Barr

http://bataan-prpc.blogspot.com/

" PRPC, located in the mountains of Bataan, was about a 3-hour bus ride from Manila. The PRPC opened in 1980 and closed around 1995. I worked there from 1984 to 1988. More than 400,000 Indochinese refugees (Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, ethnic Chinese, and some other minority groups) passed through its gates. Almost all of them had already been accepted for resettlement in the U.S., and almost all of them had already spent months and years in first asylum camps in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. During their stay in the PRPC, the refugees underwent final processing, health screenings, and studied English and U.S. culture. Most of the photos in this album were taken on one day...the day before I left. They're not the most beautiful, and they don't include ceremonies or friends' faces. I took the photos to remember the look of the camp. What the photos can't express is what the PRPC felt like...the amazing mix of languages, backgrounds, and cultures, the old hatreds and loyalties, the night sounds from the forest, the steam rising from the earth after a sudden downpour, the sound of students repeating an English phrase, the sound of prayers from a temple at sunset..."~Gaylord Barr~