Tubabao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Tubabao is an island near Samar, in the east central Philippines. Tubabao was used by the International Refugee Organization (IRO) in 1949 and 1950 to provide a temporary refuge for 5,000 Russian refugees escaping from China.

The Russians were survivors of the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 and Russian Civil War of 1919-1920, when the Tsarist autocracy was overthrown by the socialists. Some Russians managed to escape and took refuge in foreign lands.

Many of them moved to China, especially Harbin and Shanghai. Most of these refugees survived the Second World War but the communists took power in China and thus the IRO requested all countries around the world to provide accommodation to the Russians.

The Philippines volunteered, and offered the Tubabao Island.

The Russian refugees later were granted to stay in the United States and Australia. Many who went to the U.S. took U.S. citizenship following a required five-year waiting period.