boat people

noun[usually plural]2

1. •
   Refugees fleeing by sea, particularly those fleeing from South Vietnam during the 1970s and '80s.

   • Indochinese refugees, known throughout the world as the “boat people,” were subject to horrific suffering and dangers when the Vietnamese government began expelling them after the fall of Saigon. — 2010
2. •
   An ethnic group that principally lives on fishing and houseboats, particularly the Tanka or Dan people of East Asia.