From the Vietnam War to the Dirty War: The Resettlement of Southeast Asian Refugees and the Politics of Cold War Humanitarianism, 1979-1985

press release: Professor Sam Vong will be joining us to present his talk titled "From the Vietnam War to the Dirty War: The Resettlement of Southeast Asian Refugees and the Politics of Cold War Humanitarianism, 1979-1985." Prof. Vong is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in twentieth-century United States, refugee and migration studies, Asian American history, and the history of Southeast Asia.

"This presentation examines the little-known history of the migration and resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to Argentina between 1979 and 1985. I argue that Argentina’s military government resettled Southeast Asian refugees to project a positive international image as an advocate and a humanitarian nation in order to divert attention away from the atrocities committed during the ongoing Dirty War. I show how refugees contested the politicization and manipulation of refugees as humanitarian objects, and how refugees exerted influence in the resettlement process, calling into question the credibility of the military junta’s claims of humanitarianism. This presentation is significant because it shows how humanitarianism was employed by a military regime in South America with ulterior motives to advance other political, economic, and ideological agendas. The façade of humanitarianism ultimately led to the program’s breakdown."