All on board kept a nerv. ous watch for the Sovietmade PT boats of the Vietnamese navy. Capture would mean years of prison labor or death. Worse. in these waters prowled pirates who preyed upon defenseless refugees. looting valuables killing the men. carrying off the women and children as slaves. Two old grandmothers prayed aloud for safety. Lal wondered whether theyd make it. It was autumn. 1979.) Since the Americans left their country in 1975. nearly a million Vietnamese have fled by boat. an estimated half of them have died at sea. Parade has found that a surpris. ingly high numberthousands. according to refugee leaderswere Viet Cong and Communist Party members. These unusual and rarely noted refugees have resettled in Thailand. Hong Kong. Malaysia.
Identified stereotypes
A surprisingly high number of Vietnamese refugees were Viet Cong and Communist Party members.