Skyluck

The "Skyluck" was a 3,500-ton Panamanian-registered freighter which carried a cargo of 2,700 desperate Chinese and Vietnamese boat people fleeing war-ravaged Vietnam four years after the fall of Saigon. The ship crept into Hong Kong harbour under the cover of darkness on February 8, 1979, but was discovered and ordered to set anchor by the Hong Kong police. Thus, began a 4½ month long stalemate as the refugees waited, in deplorable conditions on the ship, for the Hong Kong government to decide their fate. The event turned into an international humanitarian incident, which was a symbol of a much larger problem: the estimated one million refugees who risked everything to flee Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

Arrival in Hong Kong

In the early hours of Wednesday February 8, 1979, the "Skyluck" arrived in the then-British colony of Hong Kong unannounced. Hong Kong police ordered the ship to stop as it passed Waglan Island, but it continued until eventually stopping just west of Hong Kong harbour off Lamma Island. The ship was surrounded by police launches and boarded. Upon interrogation, the Chinese captain claimed, as had been done in previous cases, that on his way from Singapore, the freighter came across several fishing boats in danger of sinking in the high seas, and had decided to rescue the refugees. In fact, the refugees had all paid for passage in gold leaf or bars, in amounts that often represented life savings.

The refugees were not allowed to land and, instead, were confined to the ship while the Hong Kong government attempted to verify the refugee status of the passengers, and decide whether to allow them into the UNHCR-run refugee camps in the colony.

An Act of Desperation

For weeks upon weeks, the refugees waited aboard the "Skyluck" in squalid conditions, although the Hong Kong government did provide basic necessities - food and water. On Sunday, March 11 1979, after 33 days of waiting, a group of about 100 refugees jumped overboard and started to swim the mile to shore. About fifty made it to Lamma Island, where they were promptly rounded up by police. Two were admitted to hospital and treated for exhaustion. While in custody, a group of young men unfurled a banner which read in English "Please Help Us", and tossed a message to the press through the wire fencing, which asked that the refugees be allowed to land. Those who didn't make it to shore were picked up by launches and returned to the freighter. Those reaching shore were also returned to the ship.

An End to the Stalemate

On June 29 1979, after 4½ months of waiting, some of the "Skyluck" refugees cut the anchor chain. The 3,500-ton ship drifted into the rocks at Lamma Island and began to sink. The refugees jumped into the water or climbed down the side of the vessel on rope ladders, then scrambled up the rocky shores of the island. By nightfall, about 2,000 people had been rounded up by police. Most, if not all, were taken into custody shortly thereafter. They ended up in the overcrowded camps already burgeoning with 10,000 refugees of the Vietnam War. Many ended up immigrating to the United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, or Germany, but had lengthy waits before being accepted.

References

*"Ship adds 3,000 to math of misery", Toronto Star, February 7 1979
*"3,000 refugees still awaiting haven on shore", The Globe and Mail, March 1 1979
*"Vietnamese refugees swim for Hong Kong", The Globe and Mail, March 12 1979
*"Refugees storm ashore through sea blockade", Toronto Star, June 30 1979
*Shultz, Corey. [http://www.library.ubc.ca/asian/FinalAsian/Vietnam/Thumb/Vietnam.html Photograph Exhibition] , Asian Library at the University of British Columbia

External links

* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-524/life_society/boat_people/ Boat People: A Refugee Crisis (CBC Archives)]
* [http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home United Nations Refugee Agency]
* [http://www.redreaming.info/DisplayStory.asp?id=34 Born Again: Essay by Le Van Tai]
* [http://fansites.hollywood.com/~inedit/library/essays/journey_to_freedom_hai-van_nguyen.php Journey to Freedom: by Hai-Van Nyugen]
* [http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/sea/seaexhibit/refugeecam.html University of California Irvine Southeast Asia Archive]