Galang Refugee Camp

Australia also took professionals with special skills, while the United States focused on family reunification, in keeping with its overall immigration and national vision.

This put some Galang refugees in the difficult emotional situation of rejoicing to learn that a loved one had been saved at sea—even while being informed that the family member would not be able to live in the same country for many years.

Despite such apparent comforts, the boredom and uncertainty, as well as normal rivalries and tensions common to any small town, put an undertone of unhappiness into camp life.

One such man, Minh Tran, is recorded to have made a chess set out of plastic rubbish found within the camp.

[5] Refugees left the camp after they had been assigned locations for resettlement and sponsors had agreed to provide financial assistance.

After a day or two in the small Singapore camp, the emigres were loaded onto planes chartered by ICM (International Committee for Migration) for the flight to Oakland, California or other destinations.

Galang camp was closed in 1996 seven years after the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese Refugees was adopted.

Many non-government organisations such as Save the Children and Écoles Sans Frontières also operated schools in the camp.

Their main activities in the camp were to study English and other languages, or learn vocational skills, while waiting for the results of their applications to determine their refugees status and resettlement in other countries.