Host Countries
The largest refugee movements were to the United States and Canada. Australia took a significant number, and was sometimes preferred by refugees with American family because Australia had shorter waiting periods and less red tape. Australia also took professionals with special skills, while the United States focused on family reunification, in keeping with its overall immigration and national vision. Denmark and Switzerland occasionally took refugees with special health needs for which their governments had infrastructure. Japan and Germany provided money and material.
An independent German charitable organization ran a boat, the 'Cap Anamur', which rescued refugees floundering at sea; Germany (then the Federal Republic of, or West, Germany) accepted these individuals for resettlement, but with strict limitations on family reunification. This put some Galang refugees in the difficult emotional situation of rejoicing to learn that a loved one had been saved at sea -- even while being informed that the family member would not be able to live in the same country for many years.
Read more about this topic: Galang Refugee Camp
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