Heartbreaking History of Vietnamese Refugees With a Trip To Galang Island, Batam

History of Vietnam Refugee Camp on Galang Island, Batam If you learn history, definitely remember the events of hundreds of thousands of people of southern Vietnam flee leaving their homes to flee to other postwar countries in Vietnam around the 1980s. Although it has been a long time ago, you can look back on the incident, even without using a time machine. When the incident took place, these refugees left their country using boats in conditions of concern. In one boat can be occupied 40-100 people.

For months the refugees were swayed in the waters of the South China Sea, with no clear purpose. Some of them are dead in the middle of the sea and some can reach land, including Indonesia, such as Galang Island and Tanjung Pinang. This wave of refugees attracted the attention of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Government of Indonesia. Galang Island, precisely in the Village Sijantung, Riau Islands, finally agreed to be used as a temporary shelter for the refugees.UNHCR and the Government of Indonesia are building facilities, such as IDP camps, places of worship, hospitals, and schools, which are used to facilitate about 250,000 refugees. In this place, the Vietnamese refugees resumed their lives throughout the years 1979-1996, until finally they got asylum in developed countries who would accept them or repatriated to Vietnam. The refugees were concentrated in a settlement of 80 hectares and covered interactions with local residents. This is done to facilitate oversight, regulation, security, as well as to avoid the spread of venereal disease of Rose Vietnam brought by these refugees.

Currently, the former refugee camp is used as a tourist spot by the Batam Authority