A Moonless Night: Boat People, 40 Years Later

On the night of April 30, 1975, when the Communists of North Vietnam invaded the South, which had been governed by a democratic government, several inhabitants desperately sought to flee this new totalitarian regime. In tens of thousands, they piled up on makeshift boats, hoping to escape the vigilance of their enemy brothers and make their way to the coasts of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kenya, Laos or Thailand. For those who made it, it was just the beginning of a long journey to a country that would welcome them.

Forty years later, some of these "boat people" recounted their hazardous voyage at sea, their arrival at Quebec’s Longue-Pointe military base, and the challenges of their integration into Quebec society.