Boat People

First arrivals – More than 160 Vietnamese Boat People arrived off the coast of Malaysia in 1978 (UNHCR)

The term Boat People refers to people who use boats to escape their country based on political reasons. They are primarily asylum seekers. The most well known Boat People are Vietnamese Boat People from 1975 – 1995.

Right after the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, thousands of educated citizens and scholars were punished, imprisoned, killed, or assassinated. The reasons were that they had worked for the former South Vietnamese and US government. Their families were forced to move out to controlled inhospitable lands called New Economic Zones or the outskirts of large cities.

In the late of 70s, a large number of Cambodian Boat People fled the Khmer Rouge regime. In addition, a large number of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam became Boat People, as well. They were oppressed by the Vietnamese government during and after the Sino-Vietnamese War (Chinese – Vietnamese War) in 1979.