EVENT INFORMATION

31
May
1979

Boat departures from Vietnam reach an acute humanitarian scale

← Back to Dashboard
📅 31 May 1979 📍 Vietnam

UNHCR reporting later recorded nearly 60,000 Vietnamese boat refugees arriving during May 1979. Many fled in dangerous vessels; ethnic Chinese in Vietnam were among those pushed to leave amid state pressure and worsening Sino-Vietnamese relations. Neighboring countries faced difficult decisions about rescue, asylum, and admission.

Log in to like or bookmark this story.
🔖 Bookmark

People in this event

Vietnamese refugees

including ethnic Chinese

neighboring states

Organizations in this Event

Vietnam

UNHCR

Malaysia

Thailand

Indonesia