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A Vietnamese refugee camp was established later in Pulau Bidong in August 1978 with the assistance of the United Nations. Other refugee camps were also set up in other regions of Malaysia such as Pulau Tengah, Pulau Besar, Kota Bharu, Kuantan, Sarawak, Sabah, and Kuala Lumpur. [3]
In May 1975, the first boat with 47 refugees arrived in Malaysia from Vietnam. They were called “boat people.” However, the number of boat people fleeing Vietnam was relatively small until 1978. Bidong Island was officially opened as a refugee camp on 8 August 1978 with 121 Vietnamese refugees. The capacity of the camp was said to be 4,500.
Two of the largest refugee camps were Bidong Island in Malaysia and Galang Refugee Camp in Indonesia. In response to the increasing numbers of refugees pouring in following the results of the Vietnam War the Malaysian island, Pulao Bidong, was transformed in into a refugee camp by the Malaysian government and the Red Crescent Society. [31]
Pulau Bidong's refugee camp was later closed in 1991. In May 1975, shortly after the Fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War, the first Vietnamese refugees arrived in Malaysia, and the first boat that arrived carried 47 refugees. [27] Until 1978, more Vietnamese fled their country, and many of them were of Chinese descent.
In the 1970s the island was a transit camp for Vietnamese refugees fleeing conflict, managed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The campsite was closed in the early 1980s. [1] The Malaysian government nominated Tengah Island as a marine park in 1985, recognizing its ecological significance. [2]
A refugee camp for Vietnamese boat people was set up in Sungai Besi in 1982. It was consisted of two camp sites, one of which the location was approximately where Astro Bukit Jalil is situated today. The camp was officially closed in 1996 with the repatriation of 22 boat people to Hanoi, the last batch of refugees to leave Malaysia.
Wendy McCance, director of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Bangladesh, warned that international funding for the camp would run out within 10 years and called for refugees to be given "livelihood ...
Galang camp was closed in 1996 seven years after the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese Refugees was adopted. All the Vietnamese refugees had been repatriated by the UNHCR. The transfer of the camp (technically, "Sinam Camp") from the UNHCR to the Indonesian Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) took place officially in 1997.