A recent get-together with my Iloilo City-based friend, Dr. Vic Salas, reminded me of two inter-related international events – one observed late last month and the other to be marked next month. These two events strike a deep chord in my heart and mind.
The June observance is World Refugee Day – which will be marked on the 20th – while the April event – on the 30th – commemorated the Fall of Saigon, which brought an end to the 20-year war between Vietnam and the United States (and its allies). Saigon was then the capital of the democratic South Vietnam.
World Refugee Day, designated by the United Nations, pays tribute to people for their strength and courage in leaving their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
In Vietnam, April 30 has been known since 1976 as Reunification Day, to recall the liberation of then South Vietnam to unite once more with the communist North.
That was 51 years ago.
The Fall of Vietnam triggered a mass exodus, which started to spike between 1978 and 1979.
The number of Vietnamese refugees, popularly called then as “Boat People”, grew to hundreds of thousands. They risked their lives via sea travel to flee from adverse economic conditions and political persecution under their then new government.
The Philippines was among the neighboring countries that received Vietnamese refugees for their first asylum. Other governments that received them were Hong Kong (then a British colony) Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
The refugees were eventually resettled permanently in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States.
The Philippines played a key role in this historical development by establishing in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, the Philippine First Asylum Camp and eventually the Philippines Refugee Processing Center in Morong Bataan in partnership with the UNHCR, or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Morong Processing Center opened in 1980, a year after the Palawan camp was established.
The Bataan Center served as a transit-and-training facility for more than 400,000 refugees displaced by the Vietnam War and Indo-Chinese conflict (which started earlier), that affected our Southeast Asian neighbors – in Cambodia and Laos.
Many of the Vietnamese refugees seekers who survived landed on the coasts of our country – particularly in the northern provinces and Palawan.
Estimates by UNHCR indicate that at least 290,000 refugees perished along the way.
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It was in the Palawan asylum camp where Doc Vic and I were reunited about a decade after our friendship days started in Iloilo City, where I studied and worked right following my graduation from the university.
Doc Vic was then a medical coordinator at the camp.
In a trip to Palawan, while working for a Christian medical mission-organization, I contacted Doc Vic to make arrangements with the UNHCR officials to allow me, a journalist, to enter the camp to interview and take photos of the refugees.
Just a day before my visit, a boatload of about 40 refugees – who sailed on high seas for about 20 days with minimum food and water supply – arrived in Palawan. I was allowed to enter their clinic, where I saw a few survivors in skin-and-bone state. Others were treated for severe wounds and dehydration.
By early afternoon, I was out on field, talking with young football players and their sisters who recounted their risky escape and their aspirations to be accepted in a future home country where they can pursue their dream of a peaceful and productive life.
Records reveal that about 40,000 Vietnamese sought refuge in the Puerto Princesa transit camp through the years of its existence.
With them, they brought to Palawan not only their resilience and indomitable spirit but also their heritage and culture, including their authentic culinary traditions, like their noodles, drip coffee and bakery products, which remain popular in local food establishments today.
In 1997, the Viet Ville, was established, a year after the camp was closed. The 13-ha. village, located more than 10 kms. from the camp site, served as home to about 2,000 Vietnamese refugees who have not moved to a new country yet and those who opted to stay in the city.
It became a popular tourist attraction.
I visited the village years later during lecture trips in the city. The village was a bustling community, where a cafe operated and a Buddhist temple and a Catholic Chapel stood.
One of the attractions was a marker, which served as a reminder of the lasting friendship established by the Catholic church, which initiated the maintenance of a community life for the Vietnamese diaspora.
Accounts show that the Church opposed the repatriation of the remaining boat people in Palawan and negotiated with the Philippine government to allow these refugees to integrate locally.
Sadly, the once vibrant village later became a virtual ghost town as only a couple of houses were occupied and eventually became dilapidated. Accounts also show that a few Vietnamese chose to stay in Palawan for good.
A living reminder of that wave of migration is the popular Viet Village Restaurant, which has remained open, still serving authentic Vietnamese food.
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By coincidence, I recently came across a brief video feature from A Dose of Disbelief Page on the freedom journey of the Vietnamese Boat people to the Philippines.
The AI-aided video showed a graphic representation of the grave dangers the freedom seekers faced while fleeing their country.
The young football players, their sisters and others I talked with in the asylum must be at least 50 years old, with their own children, now.
One thing is sure: like me, they have profound memories of their life in Palawan, which was their home, for a while after they braved the high seas in their quest for freedom and peace.
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Today, the stories of the Vietnamese Boat People in Palawan are immortalized in a museum in the city through a foundation organized by former staff members of the camp. (To be continued)
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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you… (Isaiah 43:2) | NWI
