Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
The Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) has provided all facilities for the care and maintenance of Vietnamese Boat People (VBP) since the first landing on 4 May 1975 of 47 VBP, on a small island off the northeast coast of the Malay Peninsula. Since then, over a continuous period of 19 years more than 250,000 VBP have landed in Malaysia and all of them except about 6,500 have either been resettled in third countries or have been repatriated to Viet Nam. The remaining 6,500 are housed in two camps, located at Sungai Besi and Cheras, each a few kilometres outside the city of Kuala Lumpur.