Huey Fong

One week before Christmas 1978, a cargo ship named the Huey Fong contacted Hong Kong authorities requesting permission to enter its waters. Over 2,000 refugees were aboard, reportedly rescued off the Vietnamese coast.

Records held at The National Archives reveal the complicated 34-day story that unfolded, rooted in the 20-year struggle between North Vietnamese communist forces and the anti-communist South.

Asia was major site of conflict during the Cold War, with the Soviet Union and the United States fighting proxy wars in the region. This included the Vietnam War, the 20-year conflict between North and South Vietnam, which concluded on 30 April 1975 when communist forces of the North took control of the Southern capital Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

At the conclusion, those on the opposing side faced retribution, poverty, and repression. The US government assisted in the evacuation and resettlement of people who worked with them, but many others had to find their own way to leave the country, often at great risk.

The UN Refugee Agency estimated hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese attempted to cross the South China Sea in a desperate attempt to reach safety. Aboard overcrowded and unsuitable vessels they were targeted by pirates and at risk of drowning. Many did not survive the journey. Government records we hold and the press at the time called the refugees 'boat people', but this term fails to capture the complex human stories and the different circumstances of departure for each individual.

Although not directly involved in the Vietnam War, Britain did play a role in the conflict. In 1954, following a temporary ceasefire, Britain assisted the evacuation of refugees from North to South Vietnam. As the war developed, Vietnamese refugees sought safety in Hong Kong – then a British colony – situated some 1,000 km north across the South China Sea.

According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), by 1978 over 5,000 Vietnamese refugees were awaiting resettlement in Hong Kong. They joined the thousands of Chinese refugees fleeing political persecution of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party.

On 18 December 1978, the FCO in London received a message from the Governor of Hong Kong, Murray MacLehose. A Panamanian registered merchant ship, the Huey Fong, was seeking permission to enter Hong Kong. Aboard were around 2,000 Vietnamese refugees the crew claimed to have rescued at sea. At the time, it was maritime practice for ships that rescued refugees at sea to continue to their first port of call where the survivors would be sheltered until they were resettled.

The Huey Fong was not the first merchant vessel carrying refugees to request permission to land in Hong Kong. Three years before, a Danish container ship, the Clara Maersk, answered a distress signal from the Truong-Xuan, which was taking on water putting the lives of the 3,628 refugees aboard at risk. Everyone was picked up and taken to Hong Kong for temporary shelter then resettled in either the US, Canada, France, Australia, or Denmark.

Governor MacLehose was suspicious of the story provided by the Huey Fong's master Shu Wen-Shin. Doubts grew after authorities established the ship had been about 200 miles east of Saigon when it sent its message asking for permission to enter Hong Kong waters. Investigations by Australian authorities showed 30 hours of unaccounted sailing time. Suspicions grew that the vessel had not rescued its passengers at sea but had picked them up in Saigon and trafficked them out of Vietnam, exploiting their vulnerable position for profit.

The Hong Kong authorities replied to Shu Wen-Shin refusing permission to enter. On 22 December, the ship sent a second message saying it was still on its way to Hong Kong and that the condition of the the refugees was deteriorating. The authorities repeated their refusal and stated the ship should continue to its next port of call in Taiwan.

The Royal Navy ship the HMS Wasperton and a Royal Hong Kong Marine Police vessel was sent to intercept the Huey Fong and prevent it from entering Hong Kong waters. By the early hours of 23 December, the Huey Fong was anchored south of Po Toi Island, just outside Hong Kong's maritime boundary.

The refugees aboard required immediate assistance, but the authorities were concerned allowing them to disembark might set a precedent with the colony being seen as a go to destination for traffickers.

Meanwhile, conditions for the refugees only worsened. Later on the 23 December, Chief Superintendent John Turner boarded the Huey Fong, reporting:

The conditions on board the ship were awful. Upon opening the hatches the stench was terrible. Women and children obviously very sick. And there was a complete lack of medical facilities.

A refugee who spoke English acted as an interpreter for Turner as he met those on board. Before long, the story offered by the crew crumbled:

Via our self-appointed interpreter I spoke to some of the Vietnamese. Their stories about their journey were confused, they didn’t ring true, and didn’t make much sense. Someone had obviously contrived to get everyone to tell the same story of a rescue on the seas by a brave Taiwanese skipper, but the stories were different.

The decision was made to supply food and water as soon as possible and to airlift those most in need to hospital. HMS Wasperton's log shows two doctors were also brought abroad.

The Master of the Huey Fong continued to ignore instructions to sail to his next scheduled port of call, and the Hong Kong authorities continued to refuse to allow the passengers to embark. The stalemate continued through Christmas and into January 1979.

The plight of the refugees began to receive international attention. The local UNHCR representative, Angelo Rasanayagam, gave a written undertaking that if the Huey Fong continued to Taiwan, assistance would be provided through third parties. Additionally, The American authorities were asked to exert what influence they could on the Taiwanese government to accept at least the ethnic Chinese of the group.

But, on 3 January 1979 Reuters reported Taiwan would not accept the refugees. Governor MacLehose wrote to the FCO repeating the official view that the Huey Fong was part of an 'organised racket' that others might copy if they were seen to be successful. Both the Hong Kong authorities and UN officials 'felt very strongly that we must take all possible steps to deter others from entering this business.'

Further press attention led to an offer from the city of Frankfurt in Germany to resettle 250 people. Yet, with so many refugees already in Hong Kong, the authorities felt it was wrong to prioritise resettling those aboard the Huey Fong.

By the middle of January, it became clear that the refugees aboard the Huey Fong numbered 3,383 – exceeding original estimates of 2,700.

Offers to resettle them continued. The US offered to take 1,000 refugees by mid-February and a further 600 by the end of March. New Zealand offered to resettle 600 people, and the UK Home Secretary, David Owen, agreed to admit 1,000 from the refugee resettlement queue in Hong Kong and 250 each from camps in Malaysia and Thailand.

By 17 January, despite final efforts to persuade the master to continue its journey to Taiwan, the Hong Kong authorities began to prepare to receive the ship. Two days later, Governor MacLehose reported to the FCO that, at 17.30 local time, the Huey Fong had entered Hong Kong waters and was being directed to a sheltered anchorage. Here, passengers were finally able to disembark.

Records in our collection show a range of responses from the British public to the Vietnamese refugees. Birmingham City officials wrote to the Home Office offering support to those aboard the Huey Fong should they be resettled in Britain.

Just months previously a similar story had made the British news. A Scottish-owned merchant navy ship MV Wellpark rescued over 300 Vietnamese from the South China Sea. For two weeks, the refugees lived on the boat before it was decided they would be brought to England.

However, the Vietnamese refugees also provided a scapegoat for far-right groups, like the National Front, who deliberately spread misinformation. Hoax letters, some stating Vietnamese arrivals would be resettled in gardens of elderly residents, were circulated in the Manchester area.

In May, four months after the passengers of the Huey Fong reach Hong Kong, the 1979 UK General Election led to a change of government. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, took power and pledged to restrict non-European migration.

But within a few weeks it faced a dilemma. Two British merchant vessels in the South China Sea came to the rescue of nearly 1,200 Vietnamese refugees but their next port of calls refused permission to allow those aboard to disembark.

International pressure was placed on the UK to find a resolution, while the ship's owners appealed directly to Thatcher regarding the impact on their businesses. Eventually, the British government agreed to let the refugees disembark in Hong Kong along with accepting any wanting to settle in the UK.

Records from May 1979 show the Prime Minister explored the legal basis for refusing to accept Vietnamese refuges taken on board vessels at sea. This included the exit from international maritime obligations, which would have had major consequences for the UK.

Thousands continued to leave Vietnam and the British government came under pressure in parliament to find a solution to the crisis. Seeking a solution, Thatcher claimed the refugee effort in Hong Kong – the crown colony had settled around 80,000 people – as Britain's own contribution to the crisis. She also called for a UN convention to explore international solutions to the crisis. UNCHR’s High Commissioner, Poul Hartling, proposed Britain sign up to the Orderly Departure Programme, committing to resettle more refugees as well as pledging additional finances. As part of the programme, nearly 20,000 people came to Britain from Vietnam.

To compensate for the arrival of Vietnamese refugees and to fulfil their election promises on immigration, the British government restricted other forms of immigration through the British Nationality Act of 1981. In addition, the government’s withdrawal of domestic spending, put pressure on local authorities to make difficult choices with limited resources, choosing between the needs of the existing population and the new arrivals. A policy of dispersal, which aimed to alleviate the impact of refugees in one area, isolated many people from established Vietnamese communities and made accessing services, like language classes, more difficult. Refugees continued to be reliant on voluntary organisations and non-governmental funding.