The Chiangmei Refugee Archive Association (CRAA) aims to gather and preserve archival materials with hidden life stories related to the Refugee Camps in Penghu, an archipelago in the Taiwan Strait. The CRAA is named after a little-known rural village in Penghu called "Chiangmei" (講美/Jiangmei/Káng Bí). Although "Chiangmei" might get confused with "Chiangmai" in Thailand, it is the main site of the two Indochinese refugee camps (1977~1988) in Penghu.
The 34 advocates of the CRAA are from various backgrounds, including academics, mass media, NPOs, writers, and filmmakers, such as Asio Liu Chihsiung (director of "Penghu Refugee Camp Trilogy"), Shufen Lin (Professor, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University), Kerim Friedman (Professor, National Dong Hwa University ), Liao Yunchan (chief editor of Independent Opinion Comment @ CommonWealth Magazine), Chang Cheng (founder of Brilliant Time Southeast Asia theme bookstore), Chang-De Liu (Professor, National Chengchi University), Tunchun Hsu (translator) and Chiahan Chu (novelist) et al.
The CRAA (The Chiangmei Refugee Archive Association) is a non-profit and non-governmental organization established by law. Our mission is to preserve and deepen the forgotten experiences of the two Indochinese refugee camps in Penghu (Chiangmei refugee camp in Paisha Township and Chukaowan refugee camp in Hsiyu Township). The CRAA intends to compile relevant documents and audio-visual archives of Penghu refugee camps to connect Taiwan to Asian and world history with the post-war legacies and contemporary migration experiences.
"Chiangmei" refers to Chiang-Mei Village in Paisha (Baisha) Township, Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait. There used to be a Vietnamese refugee camp in Chiangmei, the longest-operated refugee camp in Taiwan, with an operation period of nearly ten years (1979-1988). However, the life experiences of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Chinese refugees there do not exist in contemporary Taiwan's history. They are Indochinese refugees forgotten and denied in the UN's records.
There were two dismantled Vietnamese refugee camps in Penghu, one in Chukaowan in Hsiyu (Xiyu/Sai-sū) Township (1977-1979) and the other in Chiangmei (Jiangmei/ Káng-bí) Village in Paisha Township (1979-1988). During the nearly 12-year period, people from 51 refugee boats have been accommodated in the refugee camps. This is a past almost unknown in the history of intercontinental migration and the invisible history of the Asia-Pacific region.
■進行中計劃 | Projects in Progress
##《中南半島未知某處VR》| Somewhere Unknown in Indochina VR
2022 威尼斯影展VPB(Venice Production Bridge) 市場展獲選計劃;威尼斯雙年展第六屆VR電影學院工作坊獲選計劃威尼斯影展College Cinema VR優先候選名單/2022 文化內容策進院（TAICCA）沉浸式內容國際合資合製獲選計劃/ 2020台北市電影委員會XR工作坊獲選計劃
2022Venice Production Bridge: selected; Biennale College Cinema VR Workshop: selected; Biennale College Cinema VR: priority-listed (La Biennale di Venezia)/2020 Taipei Film Academy XR Workshop: selected
■請支持澎湖難民營 | Please support the Penghu Refugee Camps Projects
為保存澎湖難民營的未知歷史，請支持劉吉雄導演與本協會拍攝《澎湖難民營三部曲》及 《中南半島未知某處》VR | To preserve the unknown history of Penghu Refugee Camps in Taiwan, please support filmmaker Asio LIU Chihsiung & the CRAA (Changmei Refugee Archive Association) in making Penghu Refugee Camps Trilogy and the VR piece "SOMEWHERE UNKNOWN in INDOCHINA":
