Indochinese Refugees In America

This bibliography contains printed materials for the period from April 1975 to the end of 1981 in relation to the resettlement of South-East Asian refugees in the United States. The entries are listed alphabetically by principal author and/or issuing organization. They include journal and periodical articles, scholarly papers, research reports, books, and government publications. Newspaper articles, commercial dictionaries and text-books, or articles for which no personal authors were ascertainable are not indicated. Following the bibliography there is an appendix which sets out the procedure for acquiring items from Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI), Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Refugee Materials Center (RMC). There are also DAI, ERIC, RMC, geographical, and subject indexes.

This book focuses on the relationship between international migrants and host societies and discusses the historical uniqueness of the Indochinese refugee migration for the U.S. and France. It is more than the study of one refugee population and examines the relative importance of history.

Alien Winds presents the first critical analysis of U.S. refugee processing centers in Southeast Asia. Based on twenty months of work in refugee camps from 1983-1986 and an analysis of documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, this book challenges the widely held view that the refugee education program results in successful resettlement. The author contends that in its zeal to Americanize Southeast Asians, this program seeks to replace ties to their traditional community with a commitment to the myths of American success ideology and the moral principle of self-sufficiency. He concludes that the program actually disempowers the refugees by robbing them of their sense of community, and often their dignity. Without regard to skills or education, it prepares refugees for long term employment in dead end minimum wage jobs. Of particular interest to teachers of English as a second language and scholars in the fields of education, sociology, anthropology, and Southeast Asian studies, Alien Winds concludes with recommendations for overseas centers and domestic resettlement programs. From its inception the U.S. refugee resettlement program faced difficult questions: What are the main difficulties facing Southeast Asians in the United States? What do refugees need to know in order to resettle successfully? How should successful resettlement be defined? Should there be different notions of success for different groups of people? What values do Americans share? Must newcomers adopt these values? Alien Winds examines the American answers to these questions as they are formulated and conveyed to the refugees. It also explores the sources of these answers. To this end it examines important assumptions about immigrants that originated in educational programs during the early part of this century. It further explores the aims and structures of the organizations which created and operate the processing centers. Finally, Alien Winds analyzes the role of the refugee program in America's shared memory of Vietnam.