Published on Oct 17, 2012
In the morning of Sunday, the 10th of June, 1990, an American naval fleet of 6 battle ships, while moving from Thailand to the Philippines, discovered a boat full of Vietnamese refugees in international water. The fleet commander gave the order to rescue the boat people. He assembled about 10 Vietnamese speaking military men on the fleet to serve as interpreters and guides. There were 155 men, women and children that were rescued and brought to a refugee camp in the Philippines.
After a period of living in the refugee camp, these boat people were forced to repatriate back to Vietnam. A number of them escaped to the capital city of Manila, and in 1993 were able to settle in a third country, thanks to the campaigning of Trịnh Hội, an Australian lawyer of Vietnamese origin.
Phạm Quốc Hùng, one of the marines on the fleet, has preserved these historical video clips for more than 20 years.
Sáng Chủ nhật ngày 10 tháng 6 năm 1990, một hạm đội Hoa Kỳ gồm 6 chiến hạm trong khi di chuyển từ Thái Lan sang Phi Luật Tân, đã phát hiện một chiếc tàu tỵ nạn Việt Nam trên hải phận quốc tế. Vị hạm trưởng đã hạ lệnh hạm đội thi hành việc cứu vớt các thuyền nhân. Hạm trưởng đã yêu cầu tập họp tất cả quân nhân Mỹ gốc Việt trên các chiến hạm. Có khoảng 10 quân nhân thủy quân lục chiến và hải quân Mỹ gốc Việt được tập trung để hỗ trợ các công việc thông dịch và hướng dẫn. Tất cả 155 nam, nữ và trẻ em đã được cứu vớt và đưa đến trại tỵ nạn Phi Luật Tân.
Sau một thời gian ở trại tỵ nạn Phi Luật Tân, số người này đã bị cưỡng bức hồi hương về Việt Nam. Một số khác trốn trại ra thủ đô Manila sinh sống và sau này được định cư ở các quốc gia thứ ba qua sự vận động của luật sư Trịnh Hội vào năm 1993.
Anh Phạm Quốc Hùng là một thủy quân lục chiến có mặt trên chiến hạm đã gìn giữ tài liệu này quý báu này hơn 20 năm qua.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, August 30 (UNHCR) – The scene at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday could have happened in any airport, in any country – a group of people gathering to bid farewell and good luck to a departing friend.
Except the departure of this man – 43-year-old Doan Van Viet – marked a significant moment in Malaysia's history. Doan was the last remaining Vietnamese refugee in Malaysia out of over 250,000 Vietnamese refugees who had landed on the eastern shores of Malaysia some 20 years ago.
In May 1975, Malaysia's shores saw the arrival of the first weather-beaten boat, carrying 47 people from Viet Nam. They were the first of what later came to be known as the "boat people", hundreds of thousands of Indo-Chinese refugees who fled to neighbouring countries in the successive communist victories in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.
"Life was very hard for us back home. We were always harassed by the authorities. I was imprisoned for seven months because the authorities suspected that I was arranging illegal departures for people," Doan said. "When I was released, I was scared for my life and I left with my brother."
Doan's life in Malaysia began in 1984, when the boat he travelled in washed up on the shores of Pulau Bidong, off the coast of Terengganu in Malaysia. He was 22 then, having fled his home in Chau Thanh in Dong Nai with his brother several days before. In the refugee camp on Pulau Bidong, Doan took classes to learn English and auto mechanic skills.
Looking back, he stressed that he had a very happy time in Malaysia. His ability to speak two local languages, Bahasa Malaysia and Cantonese, helped him fit in, but finding work was still a challenge as Malaysian immigration laws do not distinguish between refugees and undocumented migrants.
When the Pulau Bidong camp closed in 1990, he moved to Sungai Besi. This camp was also closed in 1996, and he had to blend in to local Malaysian life outside the camp.
Twenty years after he fled Viet Nam, Doan is finally returning home with his fiancée, an event welcomed by UNHCR's Representative in Malaysia, Volker Türk.
"The voluntary repatriation of the last Vietnamese refugee from the boat people period marks the end of an important chapter in the history of refugees in Malaysia," said Türk. "It also shows that a permanent solution can be found for a refugee situation. The fact that Doan Van Viet now has reason to be optimistic about his future is in part due to the efforts of UNHCR staff in Malaysia over the past 20 years. I wish Doan Van Viet and his partner all the very best for rebuilding their lives in Viet Nam."
Doan himself expressed his happiness to return and is looking forward to starting a new life. "I want to go home to legally marry her," he said, smiling at the Vietnamese woman he met in Malaysia after she arrived there as an illegal migrant in 2003. "Going back also enables me to be close to my family who I have not met since I left home."
Doan will be met in Viet Nam by his sister.
"I have watched many friends leave Malaysia to be resettled in other countries. My own brother is in France," he said when asked about his decision to finally return to his roots. 'I feel now is the time to return home with my fiancée to start a new life."
Since 1975, the UN refugee agency has helped resettle some 240,000 Vietnamese refugees from Malaysia to third countries, while some 9,000 others opted to return to Viet Nam.
By Bram Steen
UNHCR Malaysia
After a period of living in the refugee camp, these boat people were forced to repatriate back to Vietnam. A number of them escaped to the capital city of Manila, and in 1993 were able to settle in a third country, thanks to the campaigning of Trịnh Hội, an Australian lawyer of Vietnamese origin.
Phạm Quốc Hùng, one of the marines on the fleet, has preserved these historical video clips for more than 20 years.
Sáng Chủ nhật ngày 10 tháng 6 năm 1990, một hạm đội Hoa Kỳ gồm 6 chiến hạm trong khi di chuyển từ Thái Lan sang Phi Luật Tân, đã phát hiện một chiếc tàu tỵ nạn Việt Nam trên hải phận quốc tế. Vị hạm trưởng đã hạ lệnh hạm đội thi hành việc cứu vớt các thuyền nhân. Hạm trưởng đã yêu cầu tập họp tất cả quân nhân Mỹ gốc Việt trên các chiến hạm. Có khoảng 10 quân nhân thủy quân lục chiến và hải quân Mỹ gốc Việt được tập trung để hỗ trợ các công việc thông dịch và hướng dẫn. Tất cả 155 nam, nữ và trẻ em đã được cứu vớt và đưa đến trại tỵ nạn Phi Luật Tân.
Sau một thời gian ở trại tỵ nạn Phi Luật Tân, số người này đã bị cưỡng bức hồi hương về Việt Nam. Một số khác trốn trại ra thủ đô Manila sinh sống và sau này được định cư ở các quốc gia thứ ba qua sự vận động của luật sư Trịnh Hội vào năm 1993.
Anh Phạm Quốc Hùng là một thủy quân lục chiến có mặt trên chiến hạm đã gìn giữ tài liệu này quý báu này hơn 20 năm qua.
Đến năm 90 rồi mà người Việt Nam vẫn muốn bỏ xứ mà đi!! cám ơn những người Mỹ đã cứu vớt những thuyền nhân Việt Nam. Mỹ luôn luôn là cường Quốc đúng nghĩa! chơi đẹp và nhân đạo. còn bọn trung quốc dù nó có trở thành cường quốc đi nữa thì trong mắt mọi người vẫn là một kẻ xấu xa, đe tiện nhất trên trái đất này. rất buồn vì đất nước Việt Nam đã xây dựng theo mô hình xã hội kiểu trung cộng.
Neu chung ta biet nho on nhung nguoi da cuu vot xin hay song cho xung dang voi su giup do cua ho .
Last Vietnamese boat refugee leaves Malaysia
News Stories, 30 August 2005
© UNHCR/J.M.Micaud
Indo-Chinese "boat people" at Malaysia's Sungai Besi Holding Centre in 1988. The last remaining Vietnamese refugee left Malaysia on August 28, 2005.
Except the departure of this man – 43-year-old Doan Van Viet – marked a significant moment in Malaysia's history. Doan was the last remaining Vietnamese refugee in Malaysia out of over 250,000 Vietnamese refugees who had landed on the eastern shores of Malaysia some 20 years ago.
In May 1975, Malaysia's shores saw the arrival of the first weather-beaten boat, carrying 47 people from Viet Nam. They were the first of what later came to be known as the "boat people", hundreds of thousands of Indo-Chinese refugees who fled to neighbouring countries in the successive communist victories in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.
"Life was very hard for us back home. We were always harassed by the authorities. I was imprisoned for seven months because the authorities suspected that I was arranging illegal departures for people," Doan said. "When I was released, I was scared for my life and I left with my brother."
Doan's life in Malaysia began in 1984, when the boat he travelled in washed up on the shores of Pulau Bidong, off the coast of Terengganu in Malaysia. He was 22 then, having fled his home in Chau Thanh in Dong Nai with his brother several days before. In the refugee camp on Pulau Bidong, Doan took classes to learn English and auto mechanic skills.
Looking back, he stressed that he had a very happy time in Malaysia. His ability to speak two local languages, Bahasa Malaysia and Cantonese, helped him fit in, but finding work was still a challenge as Malaysian immigration laws do not distinguish between refugees and undocumented migrants.
When the Pulau Bidong camp closed in 1990, he moved to Sungai Besi. This camp was also closed in 1996, and he had to blend in to local Malaysian life outside the camp.
Twenty years after he fled Viet Nam, Doan is finally returning home with his fiancée, an event welcomed by UNHCR's Representative in Malaysia, Volker Türk.
"The voluntary repatriation of the last Vietnamese refugee from the boat people period marks the end of an important chapter in the history of refugees in Malaysia," said Türk. "It also shows that a permanent solution can be found for a refugee situation. The fact that Doan Van Viet now has reason to be optimistic about his future is in part due to the efforts of UNHCR staff in Malaysia over the past 20 years. I wish Doan Van Viet and his partner all the very best for rebuilding their lives in Viet Nam."
Doan himself expressed his happiness to return and is looking forward to starting a new life. "I want to go home to legally marry her," he said, smiling at the Vietnamese woman he met in Malaysia after she arrived there as an illegal migrant in 2003. "Going back also enables me to be close to my family who I have not met since I left home."
Doan will be met in Viet Nam by his sister.
"I have watched many friends leave Malaysia to be resettled in other countries. My own brother is in France," he said when asked about his decision to finally return to his roots. 'I feel now is the time to return home with my fiancée to start a new life."
Since 1975, the UN refugee agency has helped resettle some 240,000 Vietnamese refugees from Malaysia to third countries, while some 9,000 others opted to return to Viet Nam.
By Bram Steen
UNHCR Malaysia
Phim tuy cũ nhưng mỗi lần coi lại tôi vẫn không kềm được nước mắt cùng nỗi xúc động đang trào dâng trong lòng mình! Những ai đã từng vượt thoát trên biển cả mênh mông bằng những con thuyền mong manh nhỏ bé mới thấy cái giá của "sự tự do" nó đắc như thế nào. Người Việt tị nạn đã đánh đổi cả mạng sống của mình để tìm "tự do" và đến biết bao giờ ta mới trả hết món nợ "cưu mang" cùng lòng nhân ái của người Mỹ và thế giới tự do đã cho chúng ta? Bây giờ nhìn lại cũng chính những người đã từng vượt thoát để tìm sự sống trong cái chết năm xưa nay quay trở về để "hàng địch", trong lòng tôi cũng dâng lên một nỗi buồn...!
ReplyDeleteKingBee219
DM thang HCM da dem cong san vao VN , gay chien tranh giua Nam--Bac . Giet hai biet bao nhieu dan/quan ca hai mien .
ReplyDelete