IB History What Was the National and International Response to Displacement? Key Definitions

An international agreement that introduced individual screening of Indochinese asylum seekers to distinguish refugees from economic migrants. Those not recognised as refugees were to be repatriated, ideally voluntarily.

The first safe country a refugee reaches after fleeing their home country. For Indochinese refugees, first asylum countries included Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

Ethnic Chinese residents of Vietnam. The Hoa community, concentrated in southern Vietnam (especially Cholon district of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City), numbered roughly 1.5 million in 1975. They were disproportionately targeted by the Vietnamese government's economic policies after reunification.

A US-Vietnam bilateral resettlement program operating from 1989 that allowed former re-education camp detainees and their families to emigrate to the United States. The program processed approximately 160,000 people and was distinct from the earlier Orderly Departure Program.

US federal law that allocated funds for the resettlement of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees. It authorized spending on housing, language training, and employment assistance for the first wave of evacuees.

A legal emigration channel created after the 1979 Geneva Conference that allowed Vietnamese to apply to leave Vietnam directly, bypassing dangerous sea crossings. Between 1979 and 1997, the ODP processed over 623,000 emigrants, mostly to the United States.

The transfer of refugees from a first asylum country to a third country that agrees to admit them permanently. For Indochinese refugees, major resettlement countries included the United States, Australia, Canada, and France.

The UN agency responsible for protecting refugees and finding durable solutions for them. In the Indochinese crisis, UNHCR coordinated camp management, screening processes, resettlement, and repatriation across Southeast Asia.