South East Asia Essay Research Paper Throughout

South East Asia Essay, Research Paper

Throughout history there have been many different refugee movements in

Southeast Asia. It is highly important to understand the difference between a

refugee and an immigrant. The Webster.s dictionary defines a refugee as .one

who flees to a shelter or place of safety.. A refugee flees the country in

which he or she lives in for many different reasons. It can be the fear of

persecution, fleeing from things like natural disasters, or even war. On the

other hand, immigrants are people who voluntarily depart their homelands to seek

a better life. In Vietnam the word .ty nan. means refugee. .Ty. means to

run away from something, to escape, and .nan. means calamity or disaster (Willmott,

1966: 252). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the Vietnamese refugee

movement in Southeast Asia. It will explore why people left their country of

origin and it will also outline their experiences during their journey in the

countries of their first and final refuge.

The period between 1965 and 1975, was considered to be the ten most violent

years in Vietnam. In the south, almost two million people were killed or wounded

because of immense physical destruction of the countryside (Brainard and

Zaharlick, 1987: 330). According to Brainard and Zaharlick, refugees from

Vietnam were .primarily farmers from war-torn villages who fled the poverty

and hunger in boats in the years that followed. (Brainard and Zaharlick, 1982:

330).

Typically, refugees from Vietnam were thought of as .the boat people..

However, most of these people left Vietnam by crossing the Chinese boarder and

not by boat. They were also ethnic Chinese, except that they had lived in

Vietnam for generations (Willmott, 1966: 252). According to Willmott these

ethnic Chinese .suffered increasing discrimination and prejudice and

eventually were asked to leave. (Willmott, 1966: 253). After being given no

alternative option these individuals resettled in places like Guangxi and

Guangdong, in and around Southern China and some in Hong Kong (Willmott, 1966:

256). In an interview with a young man Willmott quotes him as saying .my

family lived in Vietnam for seven generations . . . I would prefer; along with

many others to remain in Vietnam but I was forced to leave my Vietnamese wife

and children, along with the country. (Willmott, 1966: 267).

The people of Chinese origin were forced to leave due to a shift in world

politics. There were many tensions between the resident Chinese and Vietnamese.

During the Vietnam War, there was a fear of Chinese dominance and it was

revitalized in 1945 and 1946 by looting during the Chinese occupation. This

forced Hanoi to send Chinese troops on to Vietnamese territory. (Wurfel, 1980:

108).

On the other hand, the Chinese that were referred to as .the boat people.

were forced to flee for completely different reasons. These included economic

hardship, the worst of natural disasters and the United States refusal to

provide the reconstruction aid it had promised in the Geneva Agreement. It was

in this Geneva Agreement that the United States promised to pay three point

seven billion to Vietnam to help them overcome .the destruction by defoliants,

block buster bombs and napalm that had rained down on the countryside of Vietnam

for so many years. (Willmott, 1966: 254). Due to the vast amounts of natural

disasters Vietnamese government decided to force the Chinese into the

countryside and out of urban areas. However, they did not want to become

pheasants. It was here in the countryside that many Chinese found .the work

was hard and the food was scarce. (Willmott, 1966: 254).

The second factor occurred in 1977 and 1978, when the Vietnamese economy

began to drastically change and there was an economic crisis. .The Vietnamese

Communists suddenly nationalized commerce in March of 1978, thus expropriating

many Chinese businessmen in Ho Chi Minh City. (Willmott, 1966: 257). At this

time the Chinese were forced to go to .new economic zones.. Some of these

Chinese decided to embark on a journey on the South China Sea. This was due to

the .blatant discrimination. that was occuring in Vietnam around 1978. Many,

if not all Chinese, were removed from their jobs, their children were denyed

schooling and the Vietnamese even removed their ration cards (Willmott, 1966:

257).

.Boat people. who survived the seas were believed to be less than half

the number who fled. It was estimated that just over .20,000 Boat people are

buried in the South China Sea. (Adelman, 1982: 19). This was due to the fact

that many countries did not want to accept all of these refugees. Many of them

were said to be .lost at sea. meaning they were attacked by pirates or

drowned. Some refugees had no choice and headed straight to refugee camps.

However, their situation did not improve h

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