The deserted island and the lost graves

In 1979, a teenage Carina Hoang and her siblings boarded a rickety boat with other refugees fleeing Vietnam after the end of the war. They thought they were heading to a refugee camp, but when their boat was turned away from Malaysia, they found themselves stranded on an uninhabited island in the South China Sea. They awaited rescue while more and more boatloads of people filled up the beach. Sleeping out in the rain and fighting off starvation and disease, Carina knew that she had to stay alive to keep her younger siblings safe.

They were finally rescued three months later and were reunited with family members who'd faced similar ordeals on nearby islands. Not all of them had survived. Many years later, Carina's aunt was still haunted by the fact she hadn't been able to give her son a proper burial. So Carina decided to return to the island, determined to find his grave and bring peace to their family. It would be the first of many such trips, because when other refugees heard of Carina's mission, they started calling her, asking for help in finding their loved ones.

Carina's book is called Boat People: Personal Stories from the Vietnamese Exodus 1975-1996.

This programme was first broadcast in 2020.

Presented by Emily Webb
Produced by Mariana Des Forges

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(Photo: Carina Hoang on her return to one of the islands. Credit: Courtesy of Carina Hoang.)