Between 1975 and 1979, nearly 5000 Vietnamese refugees landed in Singapore through commercial ships, who picked them up in the open seas.
Being a small nation with limited space, Singapore was the first country to stop the boat people from entering its coastlines, instead providing the refugees with food, water and fuel and turning them away. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) cooperated with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) in the Operation Thunderstorm to carry out this task.
By end of June 1996, the camp was officially closed after the last batch of 99 boat people, living here since 1990, were voluntarily repatriated to a more politically-stable Vietnam. Hawkins Road, which houses the refugee camp, also ceased to exist after that.
Hawkins road was between View road and Woodlands Ave 4
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