refugees who have fled a country by boat, usually without sufficient provisions, navigational aids, or a set destination, especially those who left Indochina by sea as a result of the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.
Origin
1975-80
British Dictionary definitions for boat people
boat people
plural noun
1.
refugees, esp from Vietnam in the late 1970s, who leave by boat hoping to be picked up by ships of another country
Slang definitions & phrases for boat people
boat people
noun phrase
Political refugees who escape by small boat (mid-1970s+)