Indochina refugee crisis (1975–1990)

Saigon fell to North Vietnamese/Viet Cong forces, ending the Vietnam War. It triggered the first, most sudden wave of flight — over 130,000 South Vietnamese evacuated within days, mostly linked to the old government or US forces.

A prison-labour camp where the new Communist governments sent former soldiers, officials and 'class enemies' for indoctrination — often for years, with forced labour, hunger and abuse.

Under Pol Pot, they emptied cities, forced the population into rural labour communes, and killed or worked to death an estimated 1.5-2 million people (about a quarter of the population) — the Cambodian genocide.

The Hoa (ethnic Chinese in Vietnam), the Chams (Muslim minority in Cambodia), and highland peoples such as the Hmong in Laos and Montagnard in Vietnam.

Rising tension with China (leading to the brief 1979 border war) made Vietnam's government treat its ethnic Chinese population as a security risk; many businesses were seized under collectivisation, pushing the Hoa to flee, often by boat.

{{Collectivisation|state seizure of private land/business into government-run collective farms}}. New Communist governments abolished private property and trade, causing food shortages, business collapse and poverty that pushed people to leave.

Refugees, especially from Vietnam, who fled by small, overcrowded boats across the South China Sea from the late 1970s, facing storms, starvation and pirate attacks.

The new government targeted the Hmong, who had fought alongside the US-backed 'Secret Army' during the war, with reprisals and re-education, driving tens of thousands to flee across the Mekong River into Thailand.

Content = what the source actually says/shows. Context = who made it, when, where and why (origin, purpose, time, place) — this shapes how reliable or useful the content is for a given inquiry question.

Identify who created it and their position (e.g. a refugee survivor, a government official, a journalist) and explain how that shapes what they chose to include or leave out.

Comparing how different sources (e.g. a refugee testimony vs. a Vietnamese government statement) frame the SAME conditions differently — because of who created them — and using that comparison to answer the inquiry question.

Economic: collectivisation of farms and businesses caused shortages and poverty. Political: fear of re-education camps and persecution under the new Communist government.

Refugees, mainly Vietnamese, who fled by small boat after 1975, facing storms, starvation and pirate attacks.

Temporary shelter given by a regional country (e.g. Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong) before resettlement or return.

Being given a permanent new home in another country, such as the USA, Australia, France or Canada.

A 1979 agreement between Vietnam and UNHCR letting people apply to leave Vietnam legally by air instead of risking the boats.

It had fought alongside South Vietnam until 1975 and felt responsibility for allies and former soldiers who now faced reprisals.

Created a clearer US legal system for admitting refugees, supporting large-scale resettlement from Indochina.

Ethnic Chinese Vietnamese who faced discrimination and property seizure, especially after Vietnam-China tensions in 1978-79, driving many to flee.

A later international agreement that screened new arrivals and began repatriating those not recognised as genuine refugees.

First asylum is temporary regional shelter; resettlement is a permanent new home in a country like the USA.

Ran refugee camps, registered refugees, and coordinated agreements between Vietnam and resettlement countries, including the ODP.

Explain specific content from each source and explicitly link it to the inquiry question, not just describe them separately.

UNHCR aims to coordinate and justify humanitarian action, so its documents may present the response in an organised, positive light.

Vietnamese refugees who fled by sea in small, overcrowded boats after 1975, mainly former South Vietnamese officials and soldiers fearing re-education camps.

As ethnic Chinese, they were treated as a security risk after the 1978-79 China-Vietnam border war; over 250,000 fled or were pushed across the border.

Highland peoples of Vietnam's Central Highlands who had allied with US/South Vietnamese forces; persecuted after 1975 for wartime loyalty and had their land seized.

The communist regime under Pol Pot that ruled Cambodia from April 1975 to January 1979, forcing millions into rural labour camps.

The sites and period of mass death under Khmer Rouge rule (1975-79), when 1.5-2 million Cambodians died from execution, starvation and overwork.

As Cambodia's Muslim minority, the Khmer Rouge banned their religion, language and dress; roughly half the Cham population died, a higher rate than Cambodians overall.

The Laotian communist movement that took power in December 1975, prompting around 10% of the entire population to eventually flee.

The CIA had recruited and armed Hmong fighters (the 'Secret Army') against the Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War, so the new regime treated them as traitors.

Both were highland peoples who fought alongside US-backed forces and were persecuted for that wartime alliance after 1975 — Hmong in Laos, Montagnard in Vietnam.

Explaining what a source's content actually says or shows, with specific details linked directly to the inquiry question.

Analysing how a source's origin, purpose, time and place shape what it can reliably be used to show.

Examining how viewpoints across multiple sources agree or differ, explaining why, and using that to answer the inquiry question.