Boat people

   

Boat people is a slang term (usually) referring to illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who arrive en masse in old or crudely made boats.

It is a widely used form of migration for people migrating from China, Vietnam, Cuba, Haiti, Morocco or Albania. They often risk their lives on dangerously crude and overcrowded boats to escape oppression or poverty in their home nations. In 2001, 353 asylum seekers sailing from Indonesia to Australia drowned when their vessel sank.

Boat people are frequently a source of controversy in the nation they seek to immigrate to, such as the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain and Australia. Boat people are often forcibly prevented from landing at their destination, such as under Australia's Pacific Solution, or they are subjected to mandatory detention after their arrival.

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