1975+Vietnamese+Refugees

What Vietnamese Culture Means to Me
 * Vietnamese Refugees Begin Arriving in Australia**

When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, and the new communist party captured the country’s capital Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) many people who supported the old government had to flee the country. This was because they had supported the previous government and they now feared for their lives, as many were already being punished for this support. Many of them did this on boats, giving them the name boat-people.

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There were many refugee camps set up in surrounding countries like Malaysia, Thailand, the Phillipines, Hong Kong and Indonesia. These camps were often not very nice places, and people often went hungry in dangerous conditions.

Many ‘boat-people’ also travelled all the way to other countries such as Australia. It is estimated that Austraila accepted 137,000 boat people. The flow of refugees began to slow and almost stop by the late 1980’s. Now, most boat people come from the middle-east. They are escaping wars and persecution in their own countries, just like the Vietnamese did in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Vietnamese people have contributed greatly to Australian culture and identity. There are several famous Vietnamese Australians such as Anh Do, a comedian and Luke Nguyen a celebrity chef.

**What Vietnamese Culture Means to Me.**

One of my best friends, Thanh, is Vietnamese. Her family mostly eat western food, but sometimes when I’m over there we eat Vietnamese food, it’s delicious. My favourite Vietnamese food is pho. It’s a noodle soup with meat.

I also really like the comedian Anh Do. He’s really funny.

I think that if we didn't help the Vietnamese people come to Australia when they needed our help, our country wouldn't be nearly as great as it is today.