The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of Saigon to the People's Army of Vietnam and the … See more

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 uninhabite… See more

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 240 kilometres (… See more

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 gre… See more

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 H… See more

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 numbe… See more

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 d… See more