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The international response to Indochinese refugees brought to an end one of the most protracted refugee problems confronting the international community. The consolidation of power within the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975 resulted in an estimated 3 million people fleeing Vietnam in the following two decades. Most Vietnamese fled their country in small boats, and many died in shipwrecks or were targeted by pirates in their attempt to reach neighboring countries in South East Asia.  An International Conference on Indochinese Refugees was convened in July 1979. This led to a quid pro quo agreement between Western and South East Asian governments whereby Western states agreed to resettle refugees in exchange for assurances of first asylum by South East Asian governments.

The agreement resulted in over 1 million Indochinese refugees being given temporary asylum in South East Asia and then resettled in the West between 1979 and 1988. However, by the end of 1988 the number of people fleeing Vietnam was increasing and the outflows included both refugees and economic migrants.  Consequently, the Indochinese Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) was adopted in 1989.  The CPA relied upon a three-way commitment by countries of first asylum in South East Asia, the main country of origin, Vietnam, and resettlement countries.  Countries of first asylum in the region re-committed themselves to the principle of temporary asylum, pending a solution elsewhere. Vietnam agreed not only to facilitate the return of those found not to be eligible for refugee status, but also to manage an ‘orderly departure programme' for those fleeing the country. For their part, resettlement states agreed to both resettle all those who arrived in countries of first asylum up to a certain date, and to resettle all those who arrived after the cut-off date and were determined to be refugees by individual status determination.

By 1996, the camps and detention centres in the region had been cleared and the issue of the Vietnamese ‘boat people’ was considered resolved. The CPA has often been criticised by human rights advocates, especially given concerns relating to the forcible return of those determined not to be refugees and the conditions of detention in countries of first asylum. Despite these criticisms, the CPA is seen to have generally achieved its objectives of reducing the number of clandestine departures and finding extra-regional durable solutions for recognised refugees. In 1989, roughly 70,000 Vietnamese sought asylum in South East Asia. By 1992, this number had fallen to 41. At the same time, over 1,950,000 refugees had been resettled by the end of the CPA in 1995; 1,250,000 to the United States alone. On this basis, the CPA is seen by many as a success, and an unprecedented example of UNHCR successfully facilitating an inter-state political agreement in order to overcome a longstanding Protracted Refugee Situation.

Credit: Gil Loescher

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