The Refugees

A mass movement of a specific population, or diaspora, often occurs due to wars and internal conflicts in countries. Following the Vietnam War, there was a mass migration of people from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries due to the unstable conditions and hostile regimes instated after the United States intervened in the region. The difference between “emigration” and “immigration” is a matter of perspective. A person is an “emigrant” or “émigré” when they leave their country of origin; they are an “immigrant” in their new country. Both terms infer a long-term or permanent stay in their new country. Refugees are a protected class of immigrants who are forced to leave their country of origin due to dangerous conditions and seek asylum elsewhere. Refugees are essentially people living in exile, meaning they cannot return to their home countries. While many factors lead to immigration, immigrants who can freely return to visit their home countries are not living in exile.

The mass migration of Vietnamese people following the Vietnam War is known as the Vietnamese Diaspora. About 4.5 million Vietnamese nationals and their descendants currently live outside of Vietnam, with the bulk of this population residing in the United States. “Little Saigons” (sometimes called “Little Vietnams” to avoid the political implications of using Saigon, the Southern Vietnamese capital which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the communist revolution) exist all over the world as Vietnamese cultural nuclei. Several prominent ones in California provide the settings in The Refugees. Orange County’s Little Saigon has the largest population of ethnically Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. The stories “The Transplant” and “I’d Love You to Want Me” take place in and around Orange County’s Little Saigon; “Someone Else Besides You” partially takes place in the San Gabriel Valley.

When American forces retreated from Vietnam, several operations were put into place to evacuate American personnel and South Vietnamese forces who were at risk due to their anti-communist activity in the war. Other operations to evacuate South Vietnamese people were executed, but many were left behind. Many were persecuted, sent to New Economic Zones (reeducation camps), imprisoned, or killed. The harsh conditions led to the mass migration of Vietnamese nationals in the coming years.

Vietnamese boat people, often referred to just as boat people, are victims of the humanitarian crisis following the fall of Saigon who fled from Vietnam aboard boats on the Pacific Ocean. The crisis peaked in 1978-79, and over 800,000 people fled Vietnam by boat between 1975 and 1995. Most of the boats used were small fishing vessels or other boats not equipped for long-distance oceanic travel. Refugees endured harsh and often deadly conditions due to weather, hunger, thirst, and disease. Pirate attacks, such as the one depicted in “Black-Eyed Women” were common and often deadly. Survivors endured further harsh conditions in refugee camps in countries like Guam and the Philippines before being processed and accepted by the United States and other countries. Due to the huge influx of refugees, many of these camps risked becoming humanitarian crises in and of themselves. Many who survived the boat journey were marked by the trauma of the experience. In The Refugees, it haunts the protagonist of “Black-Eyed Women” and Mrs. Khanh in “I’d Love You to Want me” in particular.