ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the US war in Vietnam, refugee camps captured the tension between migrants’ mobility, regional Cold War politics, international debates over humanitarian protection and diasporic human rights activism. Although not all Vietnamese who left the country spent time in a refugee camp, it was a common, shared experience for many, particularly for those who left between 1975 and the early 1990s. The refugee camps shaped the international response to the Vietnamese exodus, and they became key sites of activism for Vietnamese in the camps and in the diaspora.
