Vietnam boat people go to the US
After waiting nearly two decades, hundreds of Vietnamese boat people in the Philippines are finally leaving for resettlement in the United States.
A total of 229 refugees boarded a flight to Los Angeles on Monday.
The move follows a US agreement with Manila last year, to resettle a group of refugees who have been living in the Philippines since the late 1980s.
At least 1,400 Vietnamese are reported to be making their home in the US over the next six months.
Hundreds of thousands of people left Vietnam in the years after the Communists defeated the South Vietnamese government in 1975.
They left the country in small fishing boats, most of them arriving in other nations in the region where they sought refuge.
Those that arrived in the Philippines have been the subject of ongoing discussions between Washington and Manila ever since.
Not allowed to work, they have been stuck in political limbo for decades.
The situation became more difficult for the boat people when Washington stopped calling them refugees in 1996, instead describing them as "economic refugees".
But last year, the US and the Philippines announced a joint resettlement plan.
Vu Nguyen, one of the chosen few leaving for the US on Monday, told Reuters news agency he was "very, very happy" his 16-year stint in the Philippines had come to an end.
But he added: "We're thankful for our stay in the Philippines," saying he would never forget Filipino friends, food and even local television programmes.
Tran Thi Do Tram also said he was looking forward to the move.
"We have been in a very difficult situation - I had to do whatever job I could find to help my family," he told the BBC Vietnamese service.
But others who have already left warn that there will still be struggles ahead.
Dang Thi My Hanh, who settled in Australia earlier this year, said: "In the Philippines it was very difficult, but in Australia it is also very, very hard."
"I have to work in a restaurant owned by a Vietnamese couple. They humiliate me everyday. I often cry and think I'd rather stay in the Philippines. I feel like there is no hope for people like me, anywhere."
BBC News - September 26, 2005.
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