Transit Camps

The refugees at the border camps eventually got interviewed, accepted, and settled in a country: Australia, Denmark, French, Sweden, Malaysia, and others. Many got accepted by the US. All the lucky refugees had to be transported to Panatnikhom camp for a month or so to complete paper work and health screening before flying to the final destination.

For those who went to the US, they had to go to either Bataan or Galang to study English and learn about the life in America

Below are the links to the news and pictures of the camps that had become part of our journey to freedom. Gaylord Barr captured those moments when he worked at the camps as an English teacher.

- Pulau Galang Refugee Camp - Indonesia
- Bataan - Philippines Refugees Processing Center (PRPC)
- Panatnikhom (to come)

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Translator Lights Way for Newcomers

Sean Do, or Do Chi Sieu as he is known to many refugees at the border camps, was highlighted in an article in the San Francisco Examiner back in 2000.
To refresh your mind, Sean Do can speak and write fluently English, French, Danish, Cambodia, Vietnamese, and the popular Chinese Chew-Chow, as well as several other Chinese dialects.
At the camps, Sieu was always a hope to many refugee who looked for him for help. Here is the US, Sean is a light that shines the way to many people who just simply get lost in a strange legal system
 
Please click on the article image and zoom in  to read

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Khao-I-Dang Pictures

More Khao-I-Dang pictures

One of the two water tower at the camp

Arial view

Another arial view, at one time the camp housed 160,000 Cambodian refugees

UNBRO Water tanks

UNBRO water trucks came every day to supply water

Not sure what the scene is about, maybe the refugees were waiting to be transported to another site

Closer to the ground view of the camp

Inside the camp

Water tanks and trucks

an administration building

Scene after a fire that destroyed section of the camp in 1981

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Khao-I-Dang

Vietnamese refugees did not live at Khao-I-Dang camp, however, many Vietnamese were transported to Khao-I-Dang whenever they need medical attention that the clinic at the Vietnamese platform could not provide, such as surgeries, tooth extraction, or need to be observed.

Many of us may recognize Khao-I-Dang from these pictures.

Entrance to the Khao-I-Dang

The water tower, landmark at Khao-I-Dang

"Dentist chair" in Khao-I-Dang

Another view of "Dentist chair" in Khao-I-Dang

Inside Khao-I-Dang hospital

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Some Pictures at Nong Chan

This picture was taken in 1979, when the first wave of Cambodian refugees arrived at Nong Chan camp

Another aerial view of Nong Chan refugee camp

The ubiquitous square water tanks. 

These tanks were deployed first anywhere there were refugees

The Thailand bus that UNHCR contracted to transfer refugees between camps

Cambodian refugees waited for food at a distribution area, Nong Chan 1980

A Red Cross truck carried food supply to the refugees, Nong Chan 1980

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Ngày Tưởng Niệm

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Ngày tưởng nhớ những người tị nạn bỏ mình tại vùng biên giới. 

Một phút tưởng niệm đến bạn bè, người quen và những người vô danh đã nằm xuống vùng rừng rú âm u lạnh lẻo, nơi chúng ta đã cùng sống và hy vọng

 

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