While the group was pleased to see that the cemeteries had been maintained, much of the former Bidong refugee camp has since fallen into neglect, and the visitors said the site should be restored to ensure future generations understand the history of the boat people.
Kenneth Le, who was a refugee on Bidong as a teenager and is now a doctor living in the U.S., said sites like the island camp serve to show members of younger generations what sacrifices their relatives made to create a new life for their families.
“I saw some seniors bring children who were born in the U.S., Australia and Canada,” he said of the tour group members.
“They are all teenagers, so they need to understand the reason behind their relatives’ journey 40 years ago. Every time we visited a cemetery, we also went to the accompanying museum in order to thoroughly learn the history.”
Tran Dong, director of the Archive of Vietnamese Boat People, said that his organization has plans to create a museum about the refugees to preserve their history for posterity