Refugees/Boat People
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants, or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made. The term came into common use during the late 1970s with the mass departure of Vietnamese refugees from Communist-controlled Vietnam, following the Vietnam War.
After the Vietnam War, many people in Cambodia, Laos, and especially Vietnam became refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s, after the fall of Saigon. In Vietnam, the socialist government sent many people who supported the foreign forces and the old government in the South to re-education camps, and others to "new economic zones". Lê Duẩn purged South Vietnamese who had fought against the North, imprisoning over one million people and setting off the mass exodus . In 1979, Vietnam was again at war (Sino-Vietnamese War) with the now US-allied People's Republic of China (PRC). The Vietnamese government required the entire ethnic Chinese community to perform labor in the countryside or to leave the country; the majority of Chinese, who lived in the south, had no way to leave except on the open seas. On the open seas, the boat people had to face deadly storms, diseases and starvation, and elude pirates. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea. Other estimates compiled are that 20% to 70% of the 1 -2 million Vietnamese boat people died in transit.
Exodus
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 held 400 passengers. Others organized smaller groups or went on makeshift rafts crudely made of wood. Others boarded fishing boats (fishing being a common occupation in Vietnam) and left that way. Many families were split up during this period because they could only afford to send one or a few members of the family. One method used involved middle-class refugees from Saigon, 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.
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 and taken to Hong Kong, close to 2,200 km away. Others landed on the shores of surrounding Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The unlucky ones would continue their perilous journey at sea, sometimes lasting over 6 months long, suffering from hunger, thirst, disease, and pirates before finding safety.
After the Vietnam War, many people in Cambodia, Laos, and especially Vietnam became refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s, after the fall of Saigon. In Vietnam, the socialist government sent many people who supported the foreign forces and the old government in the South to re-education camps, and others to "new economic zones". Lê Duẩn purged South Vietnamese who had fought against the North, imprisoning over one million people and setting off the mass exodus . In 1979, Vietnam was again at war (Sino-Vietnamese War) with the now US-allied People's Republic of China (PRC). The Vietnamese government required the entire ethnic Chinese community to perform labor in the countryside or to leave the country; the majority of Chinese, who lived in the south, had no way to leave except on the open seas. On the open seas, the boat people had to face deadly storms, diseases and starvation, and elude pirates. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea. Other estimates compiled are that 20% to 70% of the 1 -2 million Vietnamese boat people died in transit.
Exodus
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 held 400 passengers. Others organized smaller groups or went on makeshift rafts crudely made of wood. Others boarded fishing boats (fishing being a common occupation in Vietnam) and left that way. Many families were split up during this period because they could only afford to send one or a few members of the family. One method used involved middle-class refugees from Saigon, 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.
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 and taken to Hong Kong, close to 2,200 km away. Others landed on the shores of surrounding Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The unlucky ones would continue their perilous journey at sea, sometimes lasting over 6 months long, suffering from hunger, thirst, disease, and pirates before finding safety.