About

In the 1980s, BPSOS operated voluntary missions to rescue over 25,000 Vietnamese boat people, rescuing them from the high seas and defending their refugee rights in first-asylum countries.

Over the past decades, we have expanded our services to aid immigrants, refugees, victims of trafficking, disadvantaged students, and survivors of violence in the United States.

Presently, BPSOS has come full-circle by expanding its international initiatives to provide assistance to victims of human rights violations in Vietnam, protecting Vietnamese asylum seekers in neighboring countries and rescuing victims of human trafficking around the globe.

Our Story

1980-1988
Rescue-at-sea missions

In 1980 BPSOS was founded jointly by a group of Vietnamese American academicians in San Diego and a group of Vietnamese boat people in a refugee camp in Thailand to operate voluntary missions, rescuing over 3,300 boat people at sea and protecting their refugee rights in refugee camps.
1988 - 1997
Defending the boat people's right to freedom

More than a decade after the Vietnam War, first-asylum countries started to push the boat people back to sea and send survivors who reached shores to prison-like detention centers.
1997 - 2009
Developing BPSOS' national network in the United States

In its third phase, BPSOS refocused the organization's attention and resources to address the unmet needs of refugees and immigrants as well as empower and build capacity for Vietnamese communities in the United States. It grew from a one-staff organization to a network of branch offices operating in 6 lU.S. cities, while maintaining its operations Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan.