China Institute

Although scholars have problematized the dichotomy between “migrant” as voluntary and economic, and “refugee” as forced and political, few case studies exist.  Focusing on the “boat people” who left Vietnam in the late 1970s (most of whom were ethnic Chinese) and resettled in the United States, Canada and Australia, Lisa Tran argues that while international and state policy reified the legal distinction between migrant and refugee, the lived experiences of the people who left Vietnam blurred that distinction. Read more