boat people

American  

plural noun

1. refugees who have fled a country by boat, usually without sufficient provisions, navigational aids, or a set destination, especially those who left Indochina by sea as a result of the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.

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boat people British  

plural noun

1. refugees, esp from Vietnam in the late 1970s, who leave by boat hoping to be picked up by ships of another country

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Etymology

Origin of boat people

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Let’s give British Jews the same chance America once gave Irish famine victims, Russian dissidents, Vietnamese boat people, and Afghan translators.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025

The yellow flag was also flown by so-called boat people like him who fled Vietnam by boat so that they would be recognised as refugees, he said.

From BBC • May 5, 2023

The rescue came days after Malta was criticised by a senior Italian politician as well as charities Alarm Phone and Sea Watch for failing to rescue boat people in its search and rescue zone.

From Reuters • Apr. 17, 2023

Embassy and with the tragedy of the Vietnamese boat people.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2021

Around me the newly arrived boat people talk excitedly to their friends and family, and deliver them news of relatives in Vietnam.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung