Vietnamese Boat People Case Study

How did the Vietnamese boat people affect Australia?

Before the change of migration policies in Australia, it was very difficult to get into Australia unless you were a white European. Even skilled migrants from Asia had dilemmas migrating to Australia. Eventually, these policies changed due to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Before, there were less than 2000 Vietnamese in Australia, but these figures significantly changed after ten years. During the 1970s, more than half of the Vietnam population relocated due to fear and desperation from the war. Over 90,000 of these refugees came to Australia after the Vietnam War, looking for hope for a new beginning. Most of them stayed in Australia, leaving a permanent impression on Australian and making a great contribution to society. They have brought over their culture, food, new knowledge and their will to do hard work.

Did the Vietnamese contribute to Australia in anyway?

The Vietnamese migration has been a huge factor in shaping Australian society. Individuals such as Tan Le, Anh Do, Khoa

Do and Nam Le has had great contribution, therefore obtaining two Young Australian of the Year award. Tan Le has contributed in telecommunications and business to find jobs for Vietnamese Australians. Anh Do has created comedy by making his trip on the boat filled with humour. Khoa Do has shown leadership, compassion, inspiration and addressed issues that affects society to Australia. He has also created films such as “Delivery Day”, which achieved an AFL award in 2001, “Footy Legends” in 2006 starring his brother Anh, and “Falling for Sahara” in 2011. Nam Le has filled Australia’s library with his books, which granted him the Dylan Thomas award for writers under 30.

Did the Australians accept the Vietnamese refugees into society?
After the abolishing of the White Australian policy, Australia has accepted immigrants from all over the world who is in need of help. Australia were willing to take as many refugees as possible, therefore, accepting them into society. There has been two Young Australians on the Year who were Vietnamese immigrants, Tan Le in 1988 and Khoa Do in 2005, due to their massive contributions to Australian culture.

What happened in Vietnam that caused the people to migrate to Australia?
In 1955, a conflict broke between the pro-communist and pro-capitalist, which lead to the Vietnam War. North Vietnam was supported by USSR, China, and North Korea. South Vietnam was supported by United States, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Philippines. The Vietnamese have always fought to maintain their independence. In December 1960, the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam allied with the North and was named the Viet Cong. North Vietnam had a massive increase in their military and therefore, they began to attack South Vietnam’s troops. Guerrilla warfare (using small groups of fighters to carry out surprise tactics) were used by the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and United States.

When did the boat people start leaving Vietnam?
On 26 April 1976 was the first group of boat people that fled Vietnam to seek for a new life. From then on, series of boats arrived over the years. However, majority of the refugees from Vietnam came by plane after Australian officials were established in refugee camps.

What conditions did the Vietnamese face to travel to Australia?
After the conflict of the North and South Vietnam, many Vietnamese took the decision to migrate to a different country where they would feel safe, which was an illegal act under the government.

Before they left, families sold all over their belongings for gold because they all wanted to start a new life. Since a flight was not a smart choice during war, they decided to flee by boat. Many travelled by a fishing boat shown in source (picture). These boats tend to be overloaded with people and valuables, which made the journey to Australia very dangerous. Deaths were caused by drowning due to storms and rough seas and being attacked by pirates who murdered the Vietnamese or sold them into slavery and prostitution. An estimate of 250 000 to 500 000 Vietnamese died in their attempt to flee from Vietnam. It took them four weeks to arrive to Darwin, but many families sacrificed each other in hope for at least one family member to

survive.

What happened to the refugees after they arrived in Australia?
After arriving to Australia in a dreadful condition, the refugees were placed in camps to be processed and soon later, they will resettle in a country that were willing to accept them. Australia, being one out of the seven countries accepted 137 000 Vietnamese refugees.

What did the Vietnamese bring to Australia?
The migration of the Vietnamese allowed the success Australia has today, which is the removal of the White Australia Policy. This law prevented people from countries besides Europe to migrant to Australia. They were required to take a dictation test, which was test was used to exclude the non-Europeans in a less obvious way. The dictation test was a 50-word passage in any European language they chose for potential migrants to write down and obviously, they failed. The removal of this policy allowed for most of the Vietnamese to migrate to Australia, which they brought in their culture, food and reputation for hard work. They allowed new ideas for Australia and improved our community with their businesses and food.

Anh Do
Anh Do is a Vietnamese immigrant who arrived in Australia in 1980 at the age of 3. They left Vietnam after his uncles escaped from a communist concentration camp. The fishing boat they used was nine-metres which allowed 40 Vietnamese to cram in. On day 2, most of their food and water were lost after a storm. He has survived two pirate attacks when fleeing from Vietnam, where he was on his way to a Malaysian refugee camp. After the attacking of the pirates, they were rescued by a German merchant ship. When he finally escaped Vietnam, he was determined to help his family from poverty. After attending University of Technology Sydney and achieving a degree in Business/Law, he decided to focus on being a stand-up comedian, since it was generating more money in less time. Years gone by as a successful comedian and writing a best-selling book “The Happiest Refugee”, he has made a great reputation for himself. This allowed Anh to be on popular television shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Footy Show”.