Boat People

BOAT PEOPLE – Personal Stories from the Vietnamese Exodus 1975-1996. Edited by Carina Hoang

Coffee Table book, 252 pages of short stories with colour illustrations, and hundreds of black and white photos.

Synopsis
Boat People is a powerful collection of testimonials by 38 people with direct involvement in the flight of some 1.5 million people from communist Vietnam. The book’s first objective is to preserve the historical record for the education of future generations of the global boat-people diaspora. Another goal is to tell how the survivors of the exodus have been, on the whole, able to make valuable contributions to the societies that accepted them.  Carina Hoang has also assembled a powerful collection of photographic images, extracts from diaries, letters, and other testimony of former UNHCR officers located in Canada, Indonesia, the US and Australia. These privileged perspectives on the exodus, most of which are published for the first time, can finally be shared.

Reviews

“They piled on top of one another in wooden boats, men, women and children. So desperate to escape their war-torn home, more than a million people would risk everything to tackle the high seas in search of safe haven. Many never made it to land. Those who did endured unimaginable horrors. Told simply in their own words, Boat People gives voice to some of the survivors of the Vietnamese exodus, the largest mass migration in modern history. Their stories will make you weep. They will make you angry. Above all, they will make you wonder at the ability of the human spirit to go on against all odds. This book is a powerful document of a time we should never be allowed to forget – and of a people we should be proud to have given a new home.” THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

‘Boat People’ book review: Voyages of Hope and Fear

“Refugees who are fortunate enough to find new homes and rebuild their lives tend to fall into two categories. The majority almost never speak of their persecution and displacement. They see little benefit and significant risk in reliving past pains. Often they suspect that people who were indifferent to their plight then would care even less now. Then there are those who have a burning desire to bear witness. These individuals believe that all who are like them must speak and all others should listen. They believe that through acts of remembering we give future generations the best chance of avoiding the calamities of history.” CANBERRA TIMES

Shelter from the Storm

“Carina Hoang is proud to have been labelled a “boatperson” because she credits the experience with having shaped her life. The Saigon-born 47-year-old said it made her stronger, more compassionate, and more resilient than she would otherwise have been. It also led to her first book, Boat People: Personal Stories from the Vietnam Exodus 1975- 96, which is being released this month. Boat People is a powerful collection of testimonials by 38 people with direct involvement in the flight of some 1.5 million people from communist Vietnam”.    SYDNEY MORNING HERALD