Ban Vinai: The Refugee Camp [Paperback]

Lynellyn D. Long (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1992

Lynellyn Long documents the reality of daily life in Ban Vinai, a refugee camp in northeast Thailand. Based on the author's ethnographic experience of living and working in the camp, the book offers rich narrative descriptions of the lives of the Hmong and lowland Lao refugees. Long describes the lives of five families over the course of a year, recounting interactions with camp relief workers and the complexities of the larger relief system, how their family relationships and social roles change as a result of camp life, and their desires and expectations of the future. Long explores the effects of long-term residence in the camp, where many of the refugees have lived for more than ten years because of the lack of a permanent international solution. She shows that although the camps provide urgently needed aid, they foster a sense of powerlessness, isolation and dislocation that can radically alter the lives of the inhabitants. The book gives the historical, political and economic background of Ban Vinai and suggests what lessons may be derived for other refugee situations.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- Long set out with a tape recorder in hand to become an ethnographer, chronicling the lives of residents of Ban Vanai, a refugee camp in Thailand. She resists the urge to editorialize, romanticize, or emotionalize the struggles she sees around her, instead allowing the people to tell their own stories, through conversation. What emerges is a moving picture of human beings suspended in time: homeless, countryless, and equipped with varying degrees of survival tactics. These people become close to readers as their personalities, hopes, and setbacks in reaching a homeland unfold; drama is found in the everyday details of staying alive. The book is also a history of the attempts and frustrations of refugee workers to help alleviate suffering and provide dignity to those caught up in the system. A must purchase for schools and public libraries in our multicultural society.
- Virginia Ryder, West Potomac High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231078633
• ISBN-13: 978-0231078634
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Happy, February 3, 2010

By 

Anahit (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ban Vinai: The Refugee Camp (Paperback)

Unfortunately, I never actually received this book. This may not be at the fault of the seller's, and it may have just gotten lost in the mail. However, when I contacted the seller to advise them that I had not received the book, they advised me to wait the full 30 days (after which my class would end and my use for the book would essentially be unnecessary) before I could get a refund. This was a bit disappointing.

1.0 out of 5 stars academic exercise, November 26, 2008

By 

K. Thao (Kansas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ban Vinai: The Refugee Camp (Paperback)

I am Hmong and have lived in Ban Vinai in the very early days (July 1976) of the camp. Having read this book, I can say that it is nothing more than an academic exercise. From the intellectual aspect, Lynellyn D. Long may have achieved her goal. However, as a subject (since I am Hmong and she is writing about us, that makes me the subject), I do not sense any compassion or understanding from her writing.

I also have no clue why on page 13 she referenced Numbers 14:2-3 (21st Century King James Version) of the Bible. The Israelites were a free nation at that point; not refugees. They were freed from under the grip of Pharaoh by God "...so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert." Exodus 5:1 (NIV). The Hmong's plight is a result of superpower nations struggling for power. An African proverb says that when elephants fight, only the grass that get hurt. We are like the grass.

Khoua|