The ‘Boat People of Vietnam’ seemed to encapsulate all the
suffering Vietnam had suffered from 1965 to 1975. Despite the
end of the Vietnam War, tragedy for the people of Vietnam
continued into 1978-79. The term ‘Boat People’ not only applies
to the refugees who fled Vietnam but also to the people of
Cambodia and Laos who did the same but tend to come under the
same umbrella term. The term ‘Vietnamese Boat People’ tends to
be associated with only those in the former South who fled the
new Communist government. However, people in what was North
Vietnam who had an ethnic Chinese background fled to Hong Kong
at the same time fearing some form of retribution from the
government in Hanoi. In late 1978, Indo-China degenerated into
wholesale confrontation and war between Vietnam and Kampuchea
(Cambodia) and China. In December 1978, Vietnam attacked
Kampuchea while in February 1979, Vietnam attacked Chinese
forces in the north. These two conflicts produced a huge number
of refugees Many in what was South Vietnam fear