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50 Years After the Fall of Saigon: Refugee Stories From Vietnam
On April 30, 1975, Saigon fell. In the years that followed, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the country. Families were separated in the chaos. At least 800,000 took to the seas in search of safety. Many would spend weeks at sea, denied rescue by passing ships. This mounting humanitarian crisis turned the South China Sea into a necropolis, an unknown number of refugees the victims of drowning or even piracy. Some found refuge on land, only to spend years stuck in a refugee camp.
The story of the Vietnam War is not just the story of military battles, domestic protests, and Agent Orange. It is also this story, the story of people who had the courage to leave their homeland, to board rickety boats with meager rations in search of safety. Refugees’ memories are often written out of the record. But the story of war is incomplete without them: displacement is part of the violence of armed conflict. As we reckon with the legacy of the Vietnam War on the 50th anniversary of the fall of the Republic of South Vietnam, it is important to listen to refugee voices. For a first-hand account of the Fall of Saigon, USCRI’s Policy and Advocacy team spoke with Loc Nguyen, a refugee and advocate for the Vietnamese community.
Click here to read the full brief.