A place for the displaced

Reminders of the “boat people” or Indochine refugees Bataan hosted from 1980 to 1994 are displayed in a museum inside the Bataan Technology Park Inc. (BTPI), which used to be the site of the Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC).

The PRPC was the temporary home to some 400,000 Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians whose documents were processed at the camp from 1980 to 1994 prior to their resettlement to countries like the United States, Canada and Norway.

The museum houses some artifacts and photographs that tell stories and hold memories from the camp.

World Refugee Day, held on June 20 every year, is meant to shine the spotlight on the plight of such displaced people around the globe.

Inaugurated by the UN Refugee Agency, the occasion was first observed in 2001, 50 years on from the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland, which defined the term and agreed on the responsibilities of nations to grant asylum to those rendered stateless by warfare, famine or natural disasters and most vulnerable to persecution.

On World Refugee Day, we pay attention to the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees. It is a chance for the public to show support for families forced to flee.