Southeast Asian Refugees (1979-1981) – Photo Galleries – Canadian Immigration Historical Society

Many of the Canadian government personnel and other individuals who took part in this refugee movement have given us their personal photos to share. All copyright remains with the holders.

Click on the name of the album to open it.

In all cases, you can click on the photos to expand them (in some cases, the actual photo may be smaller than the preview), and then cycle through the photos within the album by way of the navigation arrows on the left and right.

Murray Opperthauser album

Murray Mosher album – photos taken in early August 1979 at Griesbach Military Base in Edmonton. This was one was one of the arrival points for the southeast Asian refugees. Used with permission from Mr. Mosher, who owns the copyright.

Don Cameron – Mr. Cameron served in the region as a visa officer. Photos are used with the permission of Mr. Cameron, who owns the copyright.

UNHCR chartered helicopter — Anambas Islands, Indonesia.

Scott Hetherington album – Scott arrived in the region as a visa officer. Used with the permission of Mr. Hetherington, who retains the copyright.

John McEachern – John served in the refugee camps and provided this example of a camp souvenir. He holds the photo’s copyright.

Margaret Tebbutt – Margaret served in the region as a visa officer. Used with the permission of Ms. Tebbutt.

Mr. Duong Xuan Phong – Mr. Phong drew the following images that were used by the UNHCR on a 1981 calendar. These show sea conditions the refugees faced along with images Camp Kuku in the Anambas Islands and Galang in Indonesia. Posted with the permission of the artist and the UNHCR.

Mr. Huan To – photographs taken by Huan To who assisted in the documentation of southeast Asian refugees upon arrival in Canada at the Griesbach CFB Reception Centre, 1979-80

A team of Interpreters & Immigration Officers at Griechbach Reception Centre at one of the flights from the Southeast Asian Refugee Camps in 1979-1980

Leo Verboven – these were taken in the late 1970s at the refugee camps of Chiang Kham, Ban Nam Yao, Sobtuang , Nong Khai – all in northeast Thailand. The last three pictures were taken at the Bangkok transit centre.

Paul Bennett

The Ubon Laotian camp in Thailand (August, 1984) where the population was not eligible for resettlement to discourage more arrivals in Thailand. Visa officer Paul Bennett is looking at a chart of how many Laotians had indicated they would be willing to consider Voluntary Repatriation

Philippe Girard

Katrin (Geiges) Farkas, United Nations Border Relief Organization (UNBRO)

he refugees were from many different Cambodian ethnic groups

Ian Hamilton

Henry Neufeld – The Hearts of Freedom project has posted an extensive collection of photos taken by Henry Neufeld, a representative of the Mennonite Central Committee, during his mid 1980s visits to refugee camps in Thailand. We thank the Hearts of Freedom and Henry Neufeld for permission to post these.